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Judicial Hellholes

ATRA has published Judicial Hellholes® 2007. The report explains:

Judicial Hellholes are places where judges system- atically apply laws and court procedures in an inequitable manner, generally against defendants in civil lawsuits. In this sixth annual report, ATRF shines the spotlight on six areas of the country that have developed a reputation for uneven justice.

1. SOUTH FLORIDA South Florida has a reputation for high awards and plaintiff-friendly rulings that make it a launching point for class actions, dubious claims and novel theories of recovery. This year, defendants felt the Miami heat with a $521 million award against an accounting firm. In addition, an appellate court overturned a $60 million award against an automobile manufacturer in a case in which the driver fell asleep at the wheel. Meanwhile, South Florida’s “King of Torts,” a lawyer whose lifestyle included a Key Biscayne waterfront mansion, leased apartments in New York and Los Angeles, a $1.2 million condo in Colorado and a staff of servants, went to prison for stealing $13.5 million from roughly 4,500 of his clients.And the liability climate has driven many doctors from the area, though this situation has steadily improved since the Legislature enacted reforms in 2003.

2. RIO GRANDE VALLEY AND GULF COAST,TEXAS The Rio Grande Valley and Gulf Coast of Texas have made their way into each and every Judicial Hellholes report since the project’s inception. It is recognized as one of the toughest places in America for corporate defendants to receive a fair trial. This year, there was a surge in personal injury lawsuits related to dredging, a judge’s “pocket veto” of an appeal of a $32 million award against a pharmaceu- tical company in a case where a juror knew and had taken loans from the plaintiff, and several particularly ridiculous lawsuits filings. Despite strong statewide legislative reforms enacted in 2004, this area stubbornly refuses to shed its Judicial Hellholes reputation.

3. COOK COUNTY, ILLINOIS Cook County, the last standing Judicial Hellhole in Illinois (after the departure of Madison and St. Clair counties), hosts a disproportionate number of the state’s large civil cases. Personal injury lawyers know that Cook County is the place to be, and this year they blew into the windy city to file massive class actions involving pet food and peanut butter, as well as many asbestos cases. It was a Cook County judge who threw out a state law aimed at improving access to health care with limits on payouts for immeasurable damages for pain and suffering damages in medical malpractice cases.

4. WEST VIRGINIA West Virginia courts have earned a reputation for anti-business rulings,massive lawsuits and close relationships between the personal injury bar,state attorney general and the judiciary.It is almost unique among the states in providing civil defendants with no assurance that they will receive appellate review,and,as one of the cases highlighted in this year’s report shows,this can leave a business hit with a multimillion-dollar verdict with nowhere to turn. The West Virginia Supreme Court of Appeals,when it does act, has cast a shadow on the reputation of the state’s judicial system. This year,it rejected a rule that places responsibility of warning patients of the risks of most drugs solely with their doctors,not pharmaceutical companies who do not know the patient’s medical history. In addition,this year, the U.S.Supreme Court denied review of the West Virginia high court’s invalidation of a law designed to stop forum shopping by plaintiffs who came from around the country to sue in Wild, Wonderful West Virginia courts. Despite its Hellholes reputation, however, it is important to note that there are many judges that adhere to the law in West Virginia, as the judiciary’s handling of litigation stemming from a 2001 flood that was blamed on everyone but nature shows.

5. CLARK COUNTY, NEVADA Home to the county’s hottest gambling spot, Las Vegas, Clark County has joined the Judicial Hellholes list for the first time. The decks appear to be stacked in favor of local lawyers who reportedly “pay to play” in the county’s courts. Judges have been criticized for issuing favorable rulings in cases that benefit friends, campaign contributors or their own financial interests.

6. ATLANTIC COUNTY,NEW JERSEY Personal injury lawyers seem to have gained a monopoly in Atlantic County, a new addition to the Judicial Hellholes report. New Jersey is known for particularly plaintiff-friendly laws, admitting junk science in court and hosting lawsuits from all over the country against their state’s own economic driver, the pharmaceutical industry. All these elements were on display in the Vioxx litigation in Atlantic County. There is also evidence that litigation fairness is deteriorating throughout the Garden State, leading to the formation of the New Jersey Lawsuit Reform Alliance in October 2007.