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Category: Judicial Hellholes

03.11.2015

Louisiana’s Corrupting ‘Buddy System’ Seemingly Back in Business, Despite Recent Reform

ATRA’s allies at Louisiana Lawsuit Abuse Watch report that, “Despite fierce criticism from lawmakers and legal reform groups in recent years,” state Attorney General James “Buddy” Caldwell has revived his infamous “Buddy System,” continuing “his questionable practice of hiring outside attorneys to pursue litigation on behalf of the state” and giving much of this potentially lucrative business to “law firms and lawyers that have donated tens of thousands of dollars to his political campaign[s]”

Judicial Hellholes

02.23.2015

Southern Illinois Federal Court Shines Brightly in Dismissing Defendants from Non-Illinois Asbestos Exposure Claim

On February 17th and 19th, Judge Staci M. Yandle for the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Illinois granted seven motions to dismiss for lack of personal jurisdiction for defendants involved in a large multi-defendant asbestos case. In each claim, the plaintiff, a former Navy worker, fell far short of alleging sufficient contacts by the defendants to the state of Illinois to satisfy constitutional due process requirements.

Judicial Hellholes, Points of Light

01.14.2015

Citing Latest Bombshell Allegations of Trial-Lawyer Fraud, ATRA Urges Congress, DOJ to Investigate

In light of a stunning defense motion filed today in a West Virginia federal court, alleging massive fraud on the part of plaintiffs’ lawyers in their aggressive recruitment of clients for pelvic mesh litigation, the American Tort Reform Association (ATRA) renewed its call on Congress, prosecutors and bar associations to investigate and prosecute those who defraud the civil justice system

Judicial Hellholes

01.12.2015

MadCo: Where 1,200 Out-of-State Lawsuits is a Dip

Madison County hosted 1,300 new asbestos lawsuit filings in 2014. Madison County’s docket has doubled in the last four years and tripled in the last seven. Nine of ten plaintiffs who file in Madison County don’t live in Illinois. And less than 1% live in Madison County.

Judicial Hellholes

01.04.2015

Exposed But No Injury? Sue Now, Nevada.

In a New Year’s eve gift, the Nevada Supreme Court ruled that plaintiffs’ lawyers can bring lawsuits seeking medical monitoring costs on behalf of people who aren’t injured. The ruling, which is contrary to the trend in state courts, will allow individuals who may never develop an illness to bring massive class actions. Unlike courts that have allowed medical monitoring claims, but placed stringent requirements on plaintiffs to avoid speculative claims, the Nevada Supreme Court “decline[d] to identify specific factors that a plaintiff must demonstrate to establish entitlement to medical monitoring as a remedy.”

Judicial Hellholes

10.31.2014

Ohio Jury Delivers a Thriller of a Verdict in Bogus Washing Machine Mold Class Action

On Thursday, October 30th, an Ohio jury delivered a “trick” of their own to frighteningly mischievous class action plaintiffs lawyers who have been running around scaring up unfounded complaints against the washing machine manufacturer, Whirlpool Corp. After a three week trial, the jury found in favor of Whirlpool – that the company’s front loading washing machines did not suffer from a design flaw, leading to mold accumulation.

Judicial Hellholes, Points of Light

09.03.2014

BP Motion Seeks Removal of Administrator Juneau

Alleging that the attorney appointed to administer compensation claims for the 2010 Gulf oil spill has conflicts of interests, allowed corruption of the claims process, and has otherwise mismanaged the multibillion-dollar compensation fund it established, energy giant BP yesterday filed a motion in federal court seeking his removal

Judicial Hellholes

08.18.2014

ATRA Disappointed Again by Alabama High Court's Unprecedented ‘Innovator Liability’ Decision

As the Supreme Court of Alabama on Friday reaffirmed its earlier, first-and-only-in-the-nation state high court embrace of an expansive theory of civil liability known as “innovator liability,” the American Tort Reform Association (ATRA) condemned the 6-3 decision, saying “the court majority denies the broader and dangerous implications of this decision, but it’s as disappointing as the first”

Judicial Hellholes

06.09.2014

7th 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 Hellholes

04.29.2014

Cowardly 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 Hellholes

2019 Judicial Hellhole Report

Every year we shine a light on the worst of the worst. Since its inception in 2002, the American Tort Reform Foundation’s Judicial Hellholes® program has documented in annually published reports various abuses within the civil justice system, focusing primarily on jurisdictions where courts have been radically out of balance.

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Since its inception in 2002, the American Tort Reform Foundation’s Judicial Hellholes® program has documented in annually published reports various abuses in the civil justice system, focusing on jurisdictions where courts are radically out of balance.

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