The 2025-2026 Judicial Hellholes® report shines its brightest spotlight on eight jurisdictions that have earned reputations as Judicial Hellholes®. Some are known for nuclear verdicts and allowing innovative lawsuits to proceed or for welcoming litigation tourism, and in all of them state leadership seems eager to expand civil liability at every given opportunity.
2025-2026 Executive Summary
2025-2026 Hellholes
2025-2026 Judicial Hellhole Report
Every year we shine a light on the worst of the worst. The report shines its brightest spotlight on jurisdictions or courts that have earned reputations as Judicial Hellholes®.
Download ReportJUDICIAL HELLHOLES SUMMARIES
#1 LOS ANGELES The jurisdiction separated itself as the worst of the worst in 2025. It saw an eye-popping $1 billion nuclear verdict®, fraud allegations exposing abusive litigation practices, and courts entertaining novel liability theories that expand defendants’ exposure. Small businesses remain frequent targets of predatory ADA lawsuits and other no-injury lawsuits, while ongoing attacks on arbitration threaten an essential tool for resolving disputes
#2 NEW YORK CITY The “Fraudemic” is shining a spotlight on the extensive lawsuit abuse occurring in the city’s courts. The courts are prolific producers of nuclear verdicts® and have adopted expansive theories of product liability for tech companies. No-injury lawsuits flood the system and the city remains a hotbed for asbestos litigation.
#3 SOUTH CAROLINA ASBESTOS LITIGATION The judge overseeing the court has created an international legal crisis through corporate takeovers and the inappropriate appointment of a receiver over international entities. The court is known for its relaxed causation standard and routine imposition of sanctions. The court has even increased jury verdicts when it feels the jury didn’t go far enough.
#4 LOUISIANA COASTAL LITIGATION This year the first case in the never-ending coastal litigation went to trial and resulted in an astounding nine-figure nuclear verdict®. Louisiana plaintiffs’ lawyers have cozied up to state leaders and the courts are filled with political bias.
#5 THE PHILADELPHIA COURT OF COMMON PLEAS A RICO suit has raised allegations of fraud in Philly’s courts and the Complex Litigation Center is attracting new mass torts litigation nationwide. Nuclear verdicts® have reached historic levels and courts allow forum shopping and expansive medical liability. The City remains a hotspot for asbestos litigation.
#6 ST. LOUIS Out-of-town ADA litigation is targeting St. Louis small business, and the courts are prolific producers of nuclear verdicts®. Judges allow junk science to fuel litigation and are throwing out jury verdicts that they disagree with.
#7 COOK, MADISON & ST. CLAIR COUNTIES This trio of counties is ground zero for baseless baby formula litigation based on junk science. The legislature opened the door to even more litigation tourism, attracting cases nationwide and no-injury lawsuits are filling the courts’ dockets. The counties are hot spots for asbestos litigation and nuclear verdicts® are the norm.
#8 KING COUNTY & WASHINGTON SUPREME COURT The state’s high court reinstated a nuclear verdict® and opened the door to junk science. The courts allow law-shopping and expanded asbestos liability for businesses. King County is now home to novel climate change litigation and is leading the charge against oil and gas companies.
WATCH LIST
Beyond the Judicial Hellholes®, this report calls attention to six additional jurisdictions that bear watching due to expansive liability and concerning trends.
TRIO OF GEORGIA COUNTIES After spending several years at or near the top of the Judicial Hellholes® list, the state dropped to the Watch List after the Governor and legislature delivered a landmark legal reform package to address longstanding issues plaguing the state’s civil justice system. A trio of Georgia county courts have been particularly problematic in recent years and judges in Gwinnett, Fulton and Cobb counties must restore fairness and level the playing fields to ensure plaintiffs’ lawyers aren’t exploiting the system for their own financial benefit.
PENNSYLVANIA SUPREME COURT After spending recent years atop the Judicial Hellholes® list alongside the Philadelphia Court of Common Pleas, Pennsylvania’s highest court had a relatively quiet year. The Court strengthened the doctrine of forum non conveniens to help rein in forum shopping but restricted the availability of arbitration in certain cases. Several significant cases remain pending.
TEXAS For years, Texas has stood as the gold standard for balanced courts and a fair civil justice system. Recently, however, cracks have begun to appear in that once-solid foundation. Trial courts across the state are developing a growing reputation for pro-plaintiff leanings and nuclear verdicts®. Compounding these concerns, Attorney General Ken Paxton has launched a wave of industry-targeted lawsuits under the Make America Healthy Again banner — awarding lucrative contracts worth millions of dollars to his political allies in the plaintiffs’ bar.
MICHIGAN SUPREME COURT After ranking #8 in last year’s report, the Michigan Supreme Court has moved to the Watch List — largely because it has yet to issue several high-profile, long-awaited decisions.
LOUISIANA Fallout from “Operation Sideswipe” continues and a copycat fraudulent scheme was uncovered in another Louisiana parish. The Louisiana legislature enacted reforms in 2025 to address the particular abuses in the state’s civil justice system and ATRF will monitor how the courts respond.
KENTUCKY The state once again finds itself on the Watch List after a one-year hiatus. Trial courts across the state award nuclear verdicts® and issue liability-expanding decisions.
DISHONORABLE MENTIONS
Dishonorable Mentions comprise singularly unsound court decisions, abusive practices or other actions that erode the fairness of a state’s civil justice system and are not otherwise detailed in other sections of the report.
Included among this year’s list, the Fourth Circuit embraced an expansive view of public nuisance, the Colorado Court issued a problematic evidentiary decision and the Ohio appellate courts allowed for unlimited noneconomic damages.
POINTS OF LIGHT
This year’s report again enthusiastically emphasizes the good news from some of the Judicial Hellholes® states and other jurisdictions across the country. Points of Light are examples of fair and balanced judicial decisions that adhere to the rule of law.
Among the positive developments, a Colorado court rebuffed medical monitoring damages theory, the Delaware Supreme Court rejected junk science, and the Maine Supreme Court declined to broaden the scope of public nuisance liability. Additionally, a North Carolina court reaffirmed legislative authority to limit noneconomic damages and the Utah high court eliminated ‘phantom damages’ windfalls.
CLOSER LOOKS
THE FIGHT AGAINST JUNK SCIENCE HEATS UP UNDER RULE 702 This December marks the two-year anniversary of the Federal Rules Committee adopting a heightened standard for expert evidence and strengthening judges’ gatekeeping responsibilities. Since the implementation of the amended Rule 702, judges across the country have begun to rise to the challenge. Several circuit courts fully embraced the heightened standards, reinforcing the integrity of expert testimony and keeping junk science out of their courtrooms. Yet, despite this encouraging progress, some courts have resisted reform — continuing to allow unreliable expert evidence to fuel abusive and profit-driven litigation.
THE PROLIFERATION OF PRIVATE RIGHTS OF ACTION ATRF has observed a significant uptick in the inclusion of new private rights of action in legislation. This has occurred not only in states with a history of such laws, but also in states known for their leadership on tort reform. These proposals can be especially problematic when they discard or significantly relax key elements of claims, eliminate the need for a person to have experienced an injury to sue, provide for statutory damage awards rather than reimburse actual losses, or add on recovery of attorneys’ fees that are typically not available in ordinary civil litigation.
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