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Everlasting Judicial Hellholes

A Long Hot 20 Years

The American Tort Reform Foundation began publishing its annual Judicial Hellholes® report and rankings in 2002. The December 2021 release will mark the 20th anniversary of the report, which shines a bright light on abuses in the country’s civil justice system. Over those 20 years, some have heeded the warning of being named a Judicial Hellhole®, actively making changes to rebalance their civil justice systems. Others, however, remain in the dregs, making little improvement or even becoming more deeply entrenched, year after year.

Introducing, the Everlasting Judicial Hellholes®…

Everlasting Judicial Hellholes

Everlasting Judicial Judicial Hellhole Report

Be the first to find out if these 20th anniversary Everlasting Judicial Hellholes® will pave a new path or continue down this treacherous road when our annual report for 2021-2022 comes out in December.

2021-2022 Judicial Hellholes Report Release: December 7, 2021

Illinois

Jurisdictions in Illinois have been named Judicial Hellholes® every year since the report’s inception. Recurring issues over the past 20 years include asbestos litigation, lawsuits that don’t actually claim any sort of injury occurred, including those related to data privacy and out-of-state lawsuits.

Spending in Illinois on local TV trial lawyer ads increased nearly 70% between 2016 and 2020.
Excessive tort costs result in an annual tort tax of more than $1,000 paid by each Illinois resident.

California

Jurisdictions in California were named Judicial Hellholes® a total of 15 years, plus four years on the report’s Watch List. Recurring issues over the past 20 years include lawsuits that abuse the Americans with Disabilities Act, consumer- and food-related lawsuits that don’t actually claim any sort of injury occurred, the enactment and enforcement of the Private Attorneys General Act (2004), lawsuits related to the state’s Proposition 65 listing of possible carcinogens and junk science, as well as the expansion of public nuisance litigation.

Spending in California on local trial lawyer ads increased by more than 50% between 2016 and 2020.
Excessive tort costs result in an annual tort tax of nearly $600 paid by each California resident.

South Florida

Jurisdictions in Florida were named Judicial Hellholes® a total of 16 years, plus two years on the report’s Watch List. Recurring issues over the past 20 years include personal injury protection coverage, phantom damages, letters of protection, junk science, bad faith, and up until recently, the state’s Supreme Court.

The number of legal services ads in Florida increased by more than 60% between 2016 and 2020.
Excessive tort costs result in an annual tort tax of more than $250 paid by each Florida resident.

Louisiana

Jurisdictions in Louisiana were named Judicial Hellholes® a total of 11 years, plus four years on the report’s Watch List. Recurring issues over the past 20 years include coastal and environmental litigation against energy companies, auto insurance scams and a large number of auto injury claims, government cronyism, and up until recently, a high jury trial threshold.

Louisiana accounts for a disproportionate amount of legal services TV ads and spending on those ads (4% of all spending and 5.6% of ads in one quarter) considering that the state makes up less than 1.5% of the nation’s population.
Excessive tort costs result in an annual tort tax of more than $450 paid by each Louisiana resident.

New York

Jurisdictions in New York were named Judicial Hellholes® a total of 11 years, plus one year on the report’s Watch List. Recurring issues over the past 20 years include New York City’s asbestos litigation, lawsuits that abuse the Americans with Disabilities Act, the state’s unique scaffold law, consumer- and food-related lawsuits that don’t actually claim any injury occurred and the legislature’s continued attempts to expand liability.

New York trial lawyer ads increased more than 65% between 2016 and 2020.
The costs of excessive litigation results in an annual tort tax of $1,450 paid by each New York resident.

Pennsylvania

Jurisdictions in Pennsylvania were named Judicial Hellholes® a total of eight years, plus seven years on the report’s Watch List. Recurring issues over the past 20 years include mass tort litigation related to pharmaceutical products and medical devices, especially in Philadelphia’s Complex Litigation Center, forum shopping, medical liability, and asbestos litigation.

Pennsylvania trial lawyer ads increased more than 40% between 2016 and 2020.
The costs of excessive litigation results in an annual tort tax of more than $1,100 paid by each Pennsylvania resident.

St. Louis

Jurisdictions in Missouri were named Judicial Hellholes® a total of nine years, plus two years on the report’s Watch List. Recurring issues over the past 20 years include the allowance of junk science in the courts, especially in talc lawsuits, venue shopping, abusive consumer class actions, over-the-top punitive damages, and asbestos litigation.

The quantity of Missouri trial lawyer ads increased by nearly 75% between 2016 and 2020.
The costs of excessive litigation results in an annual tort tax of nearly $300 paid by each Missouri resident.

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