West Virginia's Clownish High Court Allows Phantom Damages
The West Virginia Supreme Court of Appeals, arguably the most arbitrary and capricious — to say nothing of ridiculous — state high court in the nation has done it again…
Judicial Hellholes7th Circuit Serves Harsh Ethics Lesson on Chicago Shyster, Father-in-Law
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit tossed out a “scandalous” settlement stemming from a Pella window consumer protection class action suit that would have paid the plaintiffs’ attorneys $11 million up front, with $2 million going to the ethically-challenged lead counsel. It’s just one more example of how state Consumer Protection Acts are abused
Judicial HellholesMadison County's New Asbestos Judge Carries on Tradition of Brazenly Favoring Plaintiffs
The latest in a long line of plaintiff-friendly asbestos judges in Madison County, Illinois, recently denied dozens of defendants’ perfectly persuasive motions for forum non conveniens in four separate cases, making it ironically clear that jurors, not judges, are asbestos defendants’ only hope for justice in this perennial Judicial Hellhole
Judicial HellholesCBS's '60 Minutes' Scrutinizes Shysters' Fraudulent Claims Made on BP Oil Spill Fund
CBS’s “60 Minutes” last evening served to further expose the inbred fraud of Gulf Coast shysters as they parasitically seek to suck free money out of BP in the wake of the 2010 oil spill off the coast of Louisiana
Judicial HellholesCowardly NY Governor Admits Political Impotence, Calls Trial Lawyers 'Most Powerful' Force in State
After spending millions of taxpayer dollars on a delusional national advertising campaign aimed at bringing start-up businesses to a dying state controlled by personal injury lawyers (who in their right mind would bring a business to such a state?), New York Governor Andrew Cuomo has now admitted that those lawyers dominate state politics and he is powerless to push through a popular reform bill that actually could boost redevelopment efforts
Judicial HellholesWith Minority Businesses Now Being Targeted, Too, NPR Finally Reports on ADA Lawsuit Abuse
Following ATRA’s lead in repeatedly exposing disability-access lawsuit abuse in California and elsewhere, NPR has finally joined in with an April 23 report during its “All Things Considered” program
Judicial HellholesNYC Asbestos Ruling Favors Personal Injury Lawyers over Those Who’ll Become Sick in Future
At the behest of powerful personal injury law firm Weitz & Luxenberg, New York Supreme Court Justice Sherry Klein Heitler Tuesday reintroduced punitive damages to New York City’s asbestos litigation (NYCAL) with an order that will enrich those lawyers at the expense of the many who will develop asbestos-related illnesses in the future
Judicial HellholesRock-Climbing Plaintiff, Lawyer Asking To Be 'Stoned' By 'Sue' York City Taxpayers
A shamelessly foolish rock-climber and his disgraceful attorney are suing New York City taxpayers for the city’s failure to post a “No Climbing” sign near a rock sculpture and thus simultaneously tempting those who’ll foot the bill to stone them
Judicial HellholesFive Florida Justices: 'We Don't Need No Stinkin' Legislatures'
By striking down a 2003 statutory limit on awards for pain and suffering in lawsuits against health care providers, a five justices of the Florida Supreme Court earlier this month arrogantly and dangersouly disregarded the will of more than 2.5 million Florida voters.
Judicial HellholesSurvey Says 7 in 10 Louisiana Voters Support Lawsuit Reform Legislation
As national news coverage of BP’s effort to do the right thing by promptly compensating those hurt by the 2010 Gulf oil spill continues to expose the incestuous and shameless nature of the civil justice system in the nation’s #2 Judicial Hellhole, 7 in 10 recently surveyed Louisiana voters express support for tort reform legislation
Judicial HellholesA Little Good News: 11 Louisiana Parish Lawsuits Dismissed
The Times-Picayune reports reports that the 5th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals upheld a lower court’s dismissal of lawsuits filed by 11 Louisiana parishes based on state law, ruling that the claims against BP were preempted by federal law
Judicial Hellholes, UncategorizedATRA Renews Criticism of New Hampshire's 'No-Injury' Lawsuit against Energy Company
ATRA spokesman Darren McKinney appeared on WKBK-Radio’s Dan Mitchell Show this week to renew his organization’s criticism of New Hampshire’s “meritless, no-injury” lawsuit against ExxonMobil for alleged groundwater contamination from leaky gas station storage tanks
Judicial HellholesAnother State AG's Pay-to-Play Racket Takes a Hit
A Nevada judge this week ordered state Attorney General Catherine Cortez Masto to pay the legal and discovery costs of a mortgage processing provider she and a private-sector class-action law firm from Washington, D.C., had unsuccessfully sued for fraud
Judicial Hellholes, Points of LightCalifornia Appellate Court Erodes 'Preemption' Defense for Medical Device Makers
On January 27, 2014, the California Second Appellate District Court held that a negligence claim against a medical-device manufacturer that was based on state law duties that paralleled requirements under federal law was not preempted.
Judicial HellholesLouisiana's 'Buddy System' Suffers a Loss: State High Court Overturns $331M Judgment
Louisiana’s Supreme Court this week landed a solid blow against the state’s notorious “Buddy System,” wherein state Attorney General James “Buddy” Caldwell hires his friends among the personal injury bar to sue deep-pocket corporate defendants on behalf of the state so they can collect big fees and, in turn, generously contribute to his next political campaign.
Judicial Hellholes, Points of LightPA High Court Embraces 'Negligent Design Defect,' Invites New Run on Reforming Philly Courts
Perhaps inviting a new stampede of speculative and opportunistic litgation on the courts of the former #1 Judicial Hellhole, Philadelphia, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court last week ruled in Lance v. Wyeth that pharmaceutical companies can now be held liable for “negligent design defect” — a theory of liability not previously available to plaintiffs in the Keystone State
Judicial Hellholes, UncategorizedSCOTUS Invites New Wave of 'Pay-to-Play' Lawsuits
A unanimous U.S. Supreme Court yesterday overturned an appellate court decision that had been heralded as a needed check on so-called “pay-to-play” litigation
Judicial HellholesBP Keeps up Fight against Personal Injury Lawyers’ Fraudulent Claims in #2 Ranked ‘Judicial Hellhole’
BP has filed a lawsuit against San Antonio-based tort kingpin Mikal Watts, accusing him of fraudulently ginning up more than 40,000 “phantom” claims on one of the compensation funds BP established to mitigate damages from the 2010 Gulf oil spill
Judicial HellholesNew York’s High Court Properly Rejects Longtime Smokers’ Claims for ‘Medical Monitoring’
Not all news coming out of Judicial Hellholes is bad news, and a decision by the New York Court of Appeals, the state’s highest court, rejecting an equitable medical monitoring claim is very good news
Judicial Hellholes, Points of LightCalifornia Ranks #1 in 2013/2014 ‘Judicial Hellholes’ Report
The American Tort Reform Foundation issued its annual Judicial Hellholes® report today, naming civil courts in California, Louisiana, New York City, West Virginia, Southwestern Illinois’ Madison and St. Clair counties, and South Florida among the nation’s “most unfair”
Judicial HellholesLatest ‘Judicial Hellholes’ Report To Be Released Tuesday, Dec. 17
Watch this space Tuesday, December 17, for the latest addition of the American Tort Reform Foundation’s annual Judicial Hellholes report
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