Group Releases 2023-2024 Top Judicial ‘Hellholes’ Report
(Judicial Hellholes via YouTube)
Tort Reform Group Identifies What It Says Are Flawed Civil Justice Systems.
Civil courts in Georgia and Pennsylvania have tied as the nation’s top “Judicial Hellholes” listed in a new 2023-24 report, primarily due to large nuclear verdicts, ethically questionable events and court orders the report viewed as severely biased.
In all, nine jurisdictions or states are on the American Tort Reform Foundation’s Judicial Hellholes most recent program list as having the most adverse laws and judicial civil rulings for defendants which, when sued, can determine a defendant’s financial fate.
The court systems highlighted in the report include Georgia and the Pennsylvania Supreme Court and Philadelphia Court of Common Pleas; Cook County, Ill.; California; New York City; South Carolina; Lansing, Mich.; Louisiana; and St. Louis.
“The report is valuable to give companies and insurers a heads-up in terms of the jurisdictions that can be most problematic for trucking defense,” said Doug Marcello, a trucking and commercial transportation attorney at Saxton & Stump in Carlisle, Pa. “The issues that we face in these jurisdictions include both venue cases that can be brought that are unrelated to either the accident or some of the parties as well as the rulings of the court with regard to evidence and motions.”
The Hellholes report is written from the defendants’ point of view, said Pamela Blass Bracher, deputy general counsel for American Trucking Associations.
“Going to trial is like a chess game. All of the decisions are creating different data points,” Bracher said. As a former trucking company attorney for many years before joining ATA, Bracher said the Hellholes report was one of the data points she looked at before making recommendations to her trucking clients.
Georgia, known as the “Peach State,” maintained its position atop the list thanks to another year of high nuclear verdicts and liability-expanding decisions by the Georgia Supreme Court.
“Neither the judiciary nor the legislative branches are willing to take responsibility for the state’s poor civil justice system,” the report said.
“Georgia is one of the most prolific producers of nuclear verdicts (awards of $10 million or more) nationwide,” the report concluded. “From January 1, 2018, through April 10, 2023, 39 nuclear verdicts in personal injury and wrongful death cases were reported, with 12 awarded in 2022 alone.
“The Supreme Court of Pennsylvania eliminated the state’s venue rule for medical liability litigation, a change that opened the floodgates for personal injury lawyers to file medical liability claims in courts they view as favorable,” according to the report. The Philadelphia Court of Common Pleas also “continues to be a hotbed for out-of-state plaintiffs’ mass torts claims.”
In Cook County, Ill., No. 2 on the list, lawsuits brought under the state’s Biometric Information Privacy Act bog down Illinois businesses, and a new wave of no-injury lawsuits is on the horizon.
No. 3 California is at the forefront of the environmental litigation battle. Expansive liability laws have led to lawsuit abuse in No. 4 New York City.
Others noted in the Hellholes report included:
No. 5 South Carolina’s consolidated docket for the state’s asbestos litigation has cemented an unwelcome reputation for bias against corporate defendants, unwarranted sanctions, low evidentiary requirements, liability-expanding rulings, unfair trials, severe verdicts, a willingness to overturn or modify jury verdicts to benefit plaintiffs and frequent appointment of a receiver to maximize recoveries from insurers.
No. 6 Lansing, Mich., is a newcomer to the 2023 list. The state’s high court and the state Legislature bear responsibility for Lansing’s deteriorating civil justice climate, primarily for the high court having expanded premises and workplace liability, and adopted an expansive approach to medical liability.
No. 7 Louisiana’s coastal litigation drags on with no end in sight and is a burden on the state’s economy. Insurance schemes plague the system, and the outgoing governor vetoed much-needed transparency legislation.
Judges in No. 8 St. Louis abandon their role as “gatekeepers” and allow junk science to be presented in their courtrooms. The courts are a prolific producer of nuclear verdicts, and the city has an international reputation as a plaintiff-friendly jurisdiction. Rather than address the lawsuit abuse, the Legislature has failed to move reforms.
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