Evidence of Trial Lawyer Corruption Comes to Light in South Carolina
On Sunday, February 11, 2018, the Post and Courier of Charleston, South Carolina reported new email evidence suggesting misconduct regarding
Judicial Hellholes“CREATES Act” is Nothing but a Giveaway to Well-Heeled Personal Injury Lawyers
The United States Senate is currently considering legislation that would benefit trial lawyers at the expense of consumers and innovative drug manufacturers. Proponents claim the Creating and Restoring Equal Access to Equivalent Samples (“CREATES”) Act (Pat Leahy D-VT) would provide a more efficient path for generic drug manufacturers to bring their product to market. In reality, the legislation is nothing but a giveaway to greedy personal injury lawyers and generic drug manufacturers.
Judicial HellholesGarden State’s New Governor Faces Bellwether Choice on ‘Pay Equity’ Legislation
New Jersey, already ranked 6th among the nation’s worst Judicial Hellholes, has a newly inaugurated governor who’s wasted no time signaling his intention to expand growth-stifling civil liability still further
Judicial HellholesAnother Scientifically Groundless Talc Verdict Falls, This Time in Los Angeles
Just three days after a Missouri appeals court vacated the first of four monstrous, if scientifically groundless verdicts won since 2015 in St. Louis by plaintiffs alleging their use of talcum powder caused ovarian cancer, a trial judge in Los Angles last Friday reversed a $417 million plaintiff’s verdict in a comparable case
Judicial Hellholes, UncategorizedTwo Florida Firms’ Fraudulent Tobacco Claims Draw Nearly $9.2 Million in Sanctions
With at least six Florida personal injury lawyers now facing unrelated criminal charges for defrauding auto insurers and the Sunshine State already in the running for this year’s #1 ranking among the nation’s Judicial Hellholes, a panel of four federal judges last week imposed nearly $9.2 million in sanctions on two Jacksonville-based plaintiffs’ firms for their shameless pursuit of more than 1,200 “frivolous and factually baseless lawsuits” against tobacco defendants
Judicial HellholesMaryland Lawmakers Should Investigate Asbestos Claims, Not Raise Taxes
Prompted by overtures from the politically powerful personal injury law firm of Peter Angelos, Maryland’s Senate Judicial Proceedings Committee last Tuesday conducted a “briefing” for lawmakers on what plaintiffs’ lawyers purport is a “backlog of civil asbestos cases” in the Circuit Court for Baltimore City
Judicial HellholesFirst of Missouri’s Monster Talc Verdicts Falls on Appeal, Others Likely to Follow
A Missouri appellate court yesterday reversed and vacated a $72 million verdict that was the first of four such controversial, multimillion-dollar verdicts rendered in the City of St. Louis Circuit Court in a series of scientifically groundless lawsuits claiming that the use of talcum powder causes ovarian cancer
Judicial Hellholes, Points of LightFraud Arrests of 5 Florida Personal Injury Lawyers Represent ‘PIP’ of the Iceberg
According to reports published last week, at least five Florida personal injury lawyers have been arrested for their alleged roles in a car accident racket known as “PIP” fraud, but we know this represents barely the tip of the PIP fraud iceberg
Judicial HellholesSuspect in Thwarted Armed Robbery Reportedly Considering Lawsuit Against Civilian Hero
Only in hyper-litigious America would someone caught red-handed in the commission of an apparent armed robbery have the gall to consider a lawsuit against the civilian hero who courageously thwarted that robbery
Judicial HellholesATRA Critical of Giant ‘Junk Science’ Verdict in ‘Golden State for Trial Lawyers’
Citing California’s stubborn and long criticized reluctance to adopt unambiguously the more exacting Daubert standard for expert evidence used in all federal courts and roughly 80% of state court systems, the American Tort Reform Association today pointed to “the latest giant-sized junk-science verdict” there to suggest it officially change its nickname to the “Golden State for Trial Lawyers.”
Judicial HellholesSCOTUS Decision Prompts Judge in #1 Hellhole St. Louis to Declare Mistrial in Talc Case
Responding to a defense motion that cited an important 8-1 U.S. Supreme Court decision rendered earlier in the day, a St. Louis trial judge yesterday declared a mistrial in the sixth such trial there in which plaintiffs allege, contrary to widely accepted science, that the makers of talcum powder are responsible for their ovarian cancer
Judicial Hellholes, Points of LightCalifornia High Court again Defies SCOTUS, Expands Civil Liability, Enriches Plaintiffs’ Lawyers
Continuing its well established trend of expanding civil liability while disregarding U.S. Supreme Court precedent, the California Supreme Court did it again last week with its plaintiff-favoring decision in McGill v. Citibank, N.A.
Judicial HellholesAd Campaign in Missouri Advocates Tort Reform, Notes Influence of ‘Judicial Hellholes’ Report
Missouri Rising, a pro-business advocacy group helping to push needed civil justice reforms through the Show Me Your Lawsuits State’s legislature, began airing television ads this month which note the fact that ATRA’s latest Judicial Hellholes report named St. Louis as the nation’s #1 hellhole
Judicial Hellholes
Louisiana Litigation Seeking to Bilk Energy Companies Suffers Set-Back at Fifth Circuit
In a major development in the civil litigation targeting energy producers in Louisiana over their alleged damaging of the receding coastline there, a three-judge panel of the U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit today unanimously affirmed the dismissal of the very first such lawsuit — wholly concocted by plaintiffs’ lawyers — filed on behalf of the Board of Commissioners of the Southeast Louisiana Flood Protection Authority-East (SLFPA-E)
Judicial Hellholes, Points of LightFlorida High Court’s Plaintiff-Favoring Majority again Disregards Lawmakers, Embraces Junk Science
The Florida Supreme Court’s plaintiff-favoring majority yesterday maintained its reputation for wholly disregarding the authority of duly elected state lawmakers with a 4-2 decision, refusing to adopt a 2013 reform law that raised the Sunshine State’s standard for expert testimony to that of all federal courts and 39 other state court systems
Judicial HellholesATRA Letter in Post-Dispatch Pushes Back against Lying Lawyer
In attacking ATRA’s annually well-documented “Judicial Hellholes” report, which recently ranked St. Louis as the nation’s least fair civil court jurisdiction and criticized what we believe are scientifically groundless verdicts against makers of talcum powder, local personal injury lawyer Roger Denton claimed to have no involvement in litigation against one of those makers. But documents ATRA provided to the Post-Dispatch caught him in a lie
Judicial HellholesRefusing to Stay Groundless Talc Cases, Missouri High Court Doubles Down on Open Invitation to Out-of-State Plaintiffs
Last week the Missouri Supreme Court doubled down on a horrible, anything-goes venue decision it made last fall by refusing to stay some 1,350 cases brought predominantly on behalf of out-of-state plaintiffs in St. Louis, the nation’s #1 Judicial Hellhole, which allege that talcum powder products cause ovarian cancer
Judicial HellholesPhiladelphia’s ‘Complex Litigation Center’ Backsliding toward Return to Judicial Hellholes List
After topping the annual Judicial Hellholes rankings in both 2010 and 2011, Philadelphia’s Complex Litigation Center (CLC) for mass torts undertook dramatic reforms in 2012 that significantly improved balance and fairness. But as judicial conduct there has again begun to encourage plaintiffs’ lawyers from across the country to bring their cases to Philly, the “City of Unbrotherly Torts” is backsliding toward its ignominious past
Judicial HellholesMissouri’s New Governor Cites ‘Judicial Hellholes’ Report in His First ‘State of the State’ Address
Missouri’s newly minted, reform-minded Governor Eric Greitens delivered his first State of the State address to a joint session of the legislature in Jefferson City yesterday, declaring his commitment to enacting critical tort reforms as a means to improving both the state’s civil justice system and its economic prospects
Judicial Hellholes, Points of LightMissouri Invites Out-of-State Plaintiffs’ Claims against Out-of-State Defendants for Alleged Out-of-State Injuries
A decision last week by the Supreme Court of Missouri effectively rolls out a “Show Me Your Lawsuits State” welcome mat for lawsuits by out-of-state plaintiffs against out-of-state defendants over alleged out-of-state injuries
The state’s notoriously weak venue law has long allowed plaintiffs’ lawyers to shop their cases to the friendliest courts. Now there is virtually nothing stopping plaintiff’s lawyers from picking their preferred judge and jury.
Judicial HellholesWith ‘Epidemic’ of Multiple-Defendant Claims, Madison County Remains the Nation’s Leader in New Asbestos Cases
Perennial Judicial Hellhole Madison County, Illinois is not ready to give up its dubious distinction as the top asbestos litigation destination anytime soon.
According to a recent midyear report and earlier annual report by KCIC Consulting, Madison County’s asbestos filings increased by 5% from 2014 to 2015 and continued to increase during the first half of 2016. The riverside county of fewer than 270,000 people was home to 29% of the nation’s asbestos filings in the first half of 2016 – up from 25% of the nation’s asbestos filings in 2015. Now, the county sits atop the ranking with more than twice as many filings as second place Baltimore City.
Judicial Hellholes