Madison County Shatters Asbestos Lawsuits Record
Madison County, Illinois, currently ranked as the #3 Judicial Hellhole nationwide, managed in 2012 to shatter its old record for newly filed asbestos lawsuits
Judicial HellholesCase Gives SCOTUS Chance to Rein in Class-Action Extortionists in Once and Future Judicial Hellhole
Miscarriages of civil justice in plaintiff-friendly Miller County, Arkansas are nothing new (see the 2006 Judicial Hellholes report, p. 22), but now they’re the makings of an important case on appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court — a case that invites the justices to rein in once and for all the class-action extortionists that continue to thrive, despite the best intentions of a 2005 federal reform law.
Judicial HellholesAsbestos Racketeers Suffer Huge Loss, Plaintiffs’ Bar PR Campaign Devastated
With the personal injury bar gearing up a multimillion-dollar public relations and lobbying campaign in 2013 aimed at winning back some of the ground lost to ATRA and other tort reform groups in recent years, a federal jury in West Virginia took just two-and-a-half hours yesterday to return civil verdicts on all counts against two personal injury lawyers and a discredited former physician for conspiring to file fraudulent asbestos claims
Judicial Hellholes, Points of LightATRA ‘Disappointed’ by Jindal’s Endorsement of Hughes for High Court
The American Tort Reform Association is voicing its disappointment with Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal’s recent endorsement of the “trial lawyers’ candidate” in an upcoming runoff election for a seat on the state’s supreme court
Judicial HellholesWV Voters Finally Cast Out AG McGraw, and Other Good & Bad Election News from Judicial Hellholes
Voters in perennial judicial hellhole West Virginia have finally had enough of long-serving anti-business Attorney General Darrell McGraw. Californians rejected trial lawyer-written, lawsuit-promoting Proposition 37. And Madison County, Illinois voters incredibly retained shamed pay-to-play Judge Barbara Crowder who fomrerly oversaw the small rural county’s crooked and largest-in-the-nation asbestos docket
Judicial Hellholes, Points of LightLeading West Virginia Newspaper Endorses Challenger Morrisey for Attorney General
West Virginia’s leading newspaper has endorsed challenger Patrick Morrisey over four-term incumbent Darrell McGraw in that state’s closely watched race for attorney general
Judicial HellholesGroup Working for ‘Judicial Integrity’ in Madison County Getting Media’s Attention
With election season heading for the homestretch, a grassroots group in once-and-future judicial hellhole Madison County, Illinois continues to garner plenty of regional media attention as it works to convince voter’s there to vote “no” on four judges up for retention
Judicial HellholesWheelchair Lawyer Alleged to Be Pervert and Fraud
In what might best be described as a what-goes-around-comes-around lawsuit, four female former employees of an infamous California wheelchair lawyer allege that he is guilty of sexual harassment, employment discrimination and fraud
Judicial HellholesNew York City’s Tort Liability Soars
Led by a record 2,004 lawsuits against the police department, New York City’s tort liability for the year ending July 31 reportedly grew a whopping 28%
Judicial HellholesReforms Drive Down Mass Tort Filings in Philadelphia
Even though some personal injury lawyers still deny that Philadelphia was a judicial hellhole in the first place, much-needed reforms imposed earlier this year by the chief administrative judge seem to have dramatically halted the explosive growth in recent years of new mass tort filings there
Judicial HellholesLouisiana Appeals Court Upholds Another Pay-to-Play Verdict, AG’s Political Patrons Get Richer
A Louisiana appeals court has upheld a $258 million jury verdict reached in a 2010 pharmaceutical case and criticized in that year’s Judicial Hellholes report for its “disproportionate enormity”
Judicial HellholesCalifornia Wheelchair Hustler Disbarred
One of California’s most notorious “frequent filers” of ginned up disability-access lawsuits has finally been disbarred
Judicial HellholesTexas Two-Step: Starbucks Sued, Shyster Screwed
Despite all the tort reform progress that has been made in the Lone Star state during the past decade, parasitic personal injury lawyers and their personal responsibility-shirking clients persist in their conniving and scheming efforts to get rich at someone else’s expense
Judicial HellholesTobacco Trial Lawyers Look for Next Payday, Set Eyes on Food Industry
With the record Tobacco Settlement in the books, opportunistic plaintiffs’ attorneys are now looking for their next big payday and it seems they have their target set on food manufacturers. More than a dozen lawyers who took on the tobacco companies have filed 25 cases aginst industry players like ConAgra Foods, PepsiCo, Heinz, General Mills and Chobani.
Judicial HellholesWashington State Ruling Expands Liability for Asbestos Injuries
On August 9, 2012, in what was a sharply divided decision, the Washington Supreme Court ruled that makers of respirators designed to prevent asbestos exposure can be held liable for failing to warn of the contaminant’s risks. This decision unfairly opens up safety product manufacturers to more lawsuits over asbestos-related injuries.
Judicial HellholesDelusional Old Fool Sues Dancer Who Allegedly Conned Him into Buying Her a Manhattan Condo
An aging and apparently delusional Italian theater director has made the costly mistake of believing a lithe young dancer had looked past his ear and nostril hair, bad breath, and receding gums and hairline to fall in love with the virile and artistic genius (read: sugar daddy) that he has always believed himself to be
Judicial HellholesATRA Questions NSO Musician’s Lawsuit against Airlines
Citing a report yesterday by the Blog of LegalTimes (BLT), the American Tort Reform Association today questioned the “shameless” slip-and-fall lawsuit that a National Symphony Orchestra musician has filed against two airlines
Judicial HellholesATRA Critical of Missouri High Court Decision Striking Down Limits on Noneconomic Damages
Reacting to the Missouri Supreme Court’s 4-3 decision yesterday to strike down a legislated limit of $350,000 for pain and suffering awards in medical liability lawsuits, ATRA today issued a news release, saying the court’s “activist majority has sided with personal injury lawyers over doctors and hospitals”
Judicial HellholesTaxpayers Bear Huge Costs Imposed by NY’s Antiquated ‘Scaffold Law’
When New York Daily News columnist Bill Hammond wrote two weeks ago that the shrinking Empire State’s taxpayers would pay hundres of millions, maybe more than a billion dollars, more to renovate the Tappan Zee Bridge than they’d have to if it weren’t for the so-called “scaffold law,” the labor unions and trial lawyers let him have it
Judicial HellholesThe Trial Bar Burns on With a Blitz Attack
As reported this week by the Wall Street Journal, Blitz USA- the nation’s No. 1 consumer gasoline-can producer, based in Miami, Oklahoma, has filed for bankruptcy due to an abusive attack of frivolous lawsuits led by the trial bar.
Judicial HellholesDeaf, Dumb & Blind?
An Oregon mother is seeking more than $9 million in a lawsuit targeting pop idol Justin Bieber, a concert promoter, and an arena owner, claiming she suffered significant and permanent hearing loss as a result of tweeny-bopper screams during a 2010 concert
Judicial Hellholes