Junk Science Front and Center in Recent Judicial Hellholes Verdicts
The changes to Federal Rule of Evidence 702 last year were supposed to be a watershed moment for expert testimony
Judicial Hellholes
With ‘Epidemic’ of Multiple-Defendant Claims, Madison County Remains the Nation’s Leader in New Asbestos Cases
Perennial 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 HellholesAnother Asbestos Defendant Seeks to Join RICO Litigation Against Plaintiffs’ Firms Accused of Fraud
Asbestos defendant John Crane Inc. this week filed motions in federal district court seeking to intervene in the Garlock Sealing Technologies-led fraud litigation against two plaintiffs’ law firms, Dallas-based Simon Greenstone Panatier Bartlett and the Shein Law Center of Philadelphia
Judicial HellholesSouthern Illinois Federal Court Shines Brightly in Dismissing Defendants from Non-Illinois Asbestos Exposure Claim
On February 17th and 19th, Judge Staci M. Yandle for the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Illinois granted seven motions to dismiss for lack of personal jurisdiction for defendants involved in a large multi-defendant asbestos case. In each claim, the plaintiff, a former Navy worker, fell far short of alleging sufficient contacts by the defendants to the state of Illinois to satisfy constitutional due process requirements.
Judicial Hellholes, Points of LightGood News from Pennsylvania High Court: Statute of Repose Applies to Asbestos Claims
In deciding not to hear a plaintiff’s appeal, Pennsylvania’s high court has upheld application the state’s 12-year statute of repose to asbestos claims
Points of LightA Rare ‘Point of Light’ in ‘Show Me Your Lawsuits State’
Judicial Hellholes reporters have long kept an eye on St. Louis, Missouri, one of the most plaintiff-friendly jurisdictions in the nation. So in the rare instance that a judge there is willing to take even a small stand against the reflexive expansion of civil liability, it’s worthy of kudos
Points of LightMadCo: Where 1,200 Out-of-State Lawsuits is a Dip
Madison County hosted 1,300 new asbestos lawsuit filings in 2014. Madison County’s docket has doubled in the last four years and tripled in the last seven. Nine of ten plaintiffs who file in Madison County don’t live in Illinois. And less than 1% live in Madison County.
Judicial HellholesPunishing Lawyers, Plaintiffs and Witnesses Who Conspire and Lie to Defraud Our Courts
It’s long overdue, but a nascent movement to hold accountable and punish those who pursue fraudulent lawsuits at the expense of taxpayers, consumers and jobseekers may finally be materializing
Points of Light, UncategorizedMadison County Shatters Asbestos Lawsuits Record
Madison County, Illinois, currently ranked as the #3 Judicial Hellhole nationwide, managed in 2012 to shatter its old record for newly filed asbestos lawsuits
Judicial HellholesOhio Lawmakers Pass First of Its Kind Asbestos Transparency Legislation
As noted in the soon-to-be-released Judicial Hellholes 2012/2013 report, Ohio lawmakers have passed a first of its kind tort reform bill that aims to prevent asbestos plaintiffs from “double dipping” – filing claims with asbestos bankruptcy trust funds while also pursuing separate lawsuits.
Points of LightGrassroots Group Working to Unseat 4 Madison County Judges up for ‘Retention’
A grassroots group calling itself Citizens for Judicial Integrity (CFJI) is now actively working to unseat four judges in Madison County, Illinois, a jurisdiction cited almost annually as a Judicial Hellhole
UncategorizedWashington State Ruling Expands Liability for Asbestos Injuries
On August 9, 2012, in what was a sharply divided decision, the Washington Supreme Court ruled that makers of respirators designed to prevent asbestos exposure can be held liable for failing to warn of the contaminant’s risks. This decision unfairly opens up safety product manufacturers to more lawsuits over asbestos-related injuries.
Judicial HellholesChanneling Henny Youngman, Peter Angelos Hopes to Make Baltimore the Next Philadelphia
Mass tort kingpin Peter Angelos is apparently hoping to make Baltimore the next Philadelphia when it comes to unfairly consolidating questionable asbestos claims and pressuring defedants into settlements they might not agree to if the cases were handled separately
Judicial HellholesGood News: PA Supreme Court Rejects the “Any Fiber” Theory of Asbestos Causation
Last week, in a 5-0 decision, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court rejected the theory that each and every fiber of inhaled asbestos is a substantial contributing factor to any asbestos-related disease
Points of LightEven in Philadelphia, ‘Progress Is Possible’
Medical liability reforms undertaken in Pennsylvania last decade have had the intended effect of reducing the number of meritless lawsuits, particularly in Philadelphia, and broader progress in other areas of tort law now seems possible, too
UncategorizedGood News, Bad News from Mississippi Courts
First the good news. Last week a jury ruled in favor of Union Carbide, the defendant in an asbestos lawsuit that once resulted in a $322 million verdict, the largest asbestos award for a single plaintiff in U.S. history.
Judicial Hellholes, Points of LightMadison County Judge Orders Bold Reform
Coming less than six weeks after a potentially game-changing judicial reform order in Philadelphia, the #1 Judicial Hellhole for the past two years, a judge in another perennial Hellhole has issued a comparable reform order that could serve to significantly shrink the nation’s largest asbestos docket
Judicial Hellholes, Points of LightCivil Justice Reform Package Making It’s Way through the Louisiana Legislature
As the spring session heats up, the Louisiana legislature has the opportunity to adopt civil justice reform measures that would drastically change the way latent disease claims are handled in court.
Points of LightAsbestos Defendants Make Case against ‘Reservation’ Docket in Madison County
On Monday, March 26, more than 100 attorneys crowded into a Madison County courtroom to listen as 61 asbestos defendants asked Associate Judge Clarence Harrison to revise the court’s 2013 advance trial docket
Judicial HellholesMadison County’s Controversial Asbestos Litigation System Strikes Again
Madison County’s controversial asbestos litigation system is once again under fire and causing a stir. Recently, presiding Judge Clarence Harrison
Judicial HellholesVery Good News from Philly!
After being cited as the #1 Judicial Hellhole for the past two years running, Philadelphia’s top administrative judge yesterday announced sweeping rules changes that should go a long way in mitigating the Complex Litigation Center’s troublingly plaintiff-friendly reputation
Judicial Hellholes, Points of Light