Citing California’s stubborn and long criticized reluctance to adopt unambiguously the more exacting Daubert standard for expert evidence used in all federal courts and roughly 80% of state court systems, the American Tort Reform Association today pointed to “the latest giant-sized junk-science verdict” there to suggest it officially change its nickname to the “Golden State for Trial Lawyers.”
Judicial HellholesResponding to a defense motion that cited an important 8-1 U.S. Supreme Court decision rendered earlier in the day, a St. Louis trial judge yesterday declared a mistrial in the sixth such trial there in which plaintiffs allege, contrary to widely accepted science, that the makers of talcum powder are responsible for their ovarian cancer
Judicial Hellholes, Points of LightContinuing its well established trend of expanding civil liability while disregarding U.S. Supreme Court precedent, the California Supreme Court did it again last week with its plaintiff-favoring decision in McGill v. Citibank, N.A.
Judicial HellholesMissouri Rising, a pro-business advocacy group helping to push needed civil justice reforms through the Show Me Your Lawsuits State’s legislature, began airing television ads this month which note the fact that ATRA’s latest Judicial Hellholes report named St. Louis as the nation’s #1 hellhole
Judicial Hellholes
In a major development in the civil litigation targeting energy producers in Louisiana over their alleged damaging of the receding coastline there, a three-judge panel of the U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit today unanimously affirmed the dismissal of the very first such lawsuit — wholly concocted by plaintiffs’ lawyers — filed on behalf of the Board of Commissioners of the Southeast Louisiana Flood Protection Authority-East (SLFPA-E)
Judicial Hellholes, Points of LightThe Florida Supreme Court’s plaintiff-favoring majority yesterday maintained its reputation for wholly disregarding the authority of duly elected state lawmakers with a 4-2 decision, refusing to adopt a 2013 reform law that raised the Sunshine State’s standard for expert testimony to that of all federal courts and 39 other state court systems
Judicial HellholesIn attacking ATRA’s annually well-documented “Judicial Hellholes” report, which recently ranked St. Louis as the nation’s least fair civil court jurisdiction and criticized what we believe are scientifically groundless verdicts against makers of talcum powder, local personal injury lawyer Roger Denton claimed to have no involvement in litigation against one of those makers. But documents ATRA provided to the Post-Dispatch caught him in a lie
Judicial HellholesLast week the Missouri Supreme Court doubled down on a horrible, anything-goes venue decision it made last fall by refusing to stay some 1,350 cases brought predominantly on behalf of out-of-state plaintiffs in St. Louis, the nation’s #1 Judicial Hellhole, which allege that talcum powder products cause ovarian cancer
Judicial HellholesAfter topping the annual Judicial Hellholes rankings in both 2010 and 2011, Philadelphia’s Complex Litigation Center (CLC) for mass torts undertook dramatic reforms in 2012 that significantly improved balance and fairness. But as judicial conduct there has again begun to encourage plaintiffs’ lawyers from across the country to bring their cases to Philly, the “City of Unbrotherly Torts” is backsliding toward its ignominious past
Judicial HellholesMissouri’s newly minted, reform-minded Governor Eric Greitens delivered his first State of the State address to a joint session of the legislature in Jefferson City yesterday, declaring his commitment to enacting critical tort reforms as a means to improving both the state’s civil justice system and its economic prospects
Judicial Hellholes, Points of LightA decision last week by the Supreme Court of Missouri effectively rolls out a “Show Me Your Lawsuits State” welcome mat for lawsuits by out-of-state plaintiffs against out-of-state defendants over alleged out-of-state injuries
The state’s notoriously weak venue law has long allowed plaintiffs’ lawyers to shop their cases to the friendliest courts. Now there is virtually nothing stopping plaintiff’s lawyers from picking their preferred judge and jury.
Judicial HellholesPerennial Judicial Hellhole Madison County, Illinois is not ready to give up its dubious distinction as the top asbestos litigation destination anytime soon.
According to a recent midyear report and earlier annual report by KCIC Consulting, Madison County’s asbestos filings increased by 5% from 2014 to 2015 and continued to increase during the first half of 2016. The riverside county of fewer than 270,000 people was home to 29% of the nation’s asbestos filings in the first half of 2016 – up from 25% of the nation’s asbestos filings in 2015. Now, the county sits atop the ranking with more than twice as many filings as second place Baltimore City.
Judicial HellholesThough release of ATRA’s annual Judicial Hellholes® report is still more than three months away, this special bulletin alerts readers to a new report, Justice for Sale III, issued by the Illinois Civil Justice League, detailing and quantifying the campaign contributions and enormous political influence that plaintiffs’ lawyers Madison County, Illinoisexert on policymakers and judges throughout the hellholes riddled state
Judicial HellholesCalifornia, already the nation’s #1 ranked Judicial Hellhole for three years running, has, like, thrown open its doors to out-of-state plaintiffs with claims similar to California plaintiffs’ claims against national defendants, discarding due process and effectively ignoring several U.S. Supreme Court opinions
Judicial HellholesIn answering a certified question of law posed to it by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit as that federal court considers a case of “take-home” liability, New Jersey’s high court last week effectively ignored its own 2006 precedent to expand such liability into an open-ended guessing game that defendants are bound to lose
Judicial HellholesIn contrast to two recent high court decisions in the currently ranked top two Judicial Hellholes, the Georgia Supreme Court
Judicial Hellholes, Points of LightAs expected, New York’s highest court Tuesday upheld two plaintiff-favoring trial court decisions from the New York City Asbestos Litigation court, better known as NYCAL, assuring that the jurisdiction will again be ranked among Judicial Hellholes when ATRA issues its annual report this coming December
Judicial Hellholes
Owned and operated by personal injury lawyers, Missouri Governor Jay Nixon yesterday vetoed two bipartisan tort reform bills that could have helped make civil litigation a little more fair in his notorious Judicial Hellhole
Judicial HellholesJoining several state trial and appellate courts in doing so, a unanimous Florida appeals court yesterday embraced a more exacting standard for expert testimony which, believe it or not, may yet be struck down by the Sunshine State’s notoriously plaintiff-friendly Supreme Court
Judicial Hellholes, Points of LightSt. Louis juries have twice levied hefty multi-million dollar damage awards against Johnson & Johnson since February on behalf of out of state ovarian cancer victims. Questions remain as to whether the scientific evidence supported such large verdicts. Johnson & Johnson is appealing both verdicts.
Judicial HellholesThe Florida Supreme Court’s plaintiff-friendly 5-2 majority has once again shown its willingness to substitute its own public policy views for those of the legislature with a late-April decision invalidating a statutory schedule for lawyers’ fees in workers’ compensation cases
Judicial Hellholes