Illinois Tuesday is once again in the national spotlight as two of the nation’s leading legal reform and tort reform advocacy organizations turned the spotlight on the “Land of Lincoln.”
The American Tort Reform Organization (ATRA) released its annual “Judicial Hellholes” listing in Washington, D.C. and three familiar Illinois counties were on the list: Madison and St. Clair counties in Southwestern Illinois, along the Mississippi River, and Cook County, the state’s largest county, at the opposite end of Interstate 55 from Madison and St. Clare.
On the same day, the Institute for Legal Reform (ILR) of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, issued two news releases describing new reports focusing on “abusive litigation” in Cook and Madison Counties and how it is hurting Illinois’ lawsuit climate.
Most of the information in the ATRA and ILR reports is not new — but it is current and it shows the continuing problems Illinois faces with lawsuits.
Madison County, with a population of about 270,000 (that’s about .008% of the U.S. population), accounts for one in four asbestos lawsuits filed in the U.S., according to the ATRA report. And only one of ten of the lawsuits filed in Madison County is filed by a plaintiff who ever worked or lived in Madison County.
Although there had been some signs of improvement several years ago, Madison County is again heading in a negative direction. Last year, there were 1,563 new cases and as of June, there had been 793 cases, according to Circuit Clerk Mark Von Nida.
St. Clair County, Madison County’s neighbor to the South, has been experiencing an increase in lung cancer cases and lawsuits against drug manufacturers.
According to ATRA, some of the cases are filed on behalf of groups of dozens of plaintiffs, a technique designed to skirt the “mass action” threshold of the Class Action Fairness Act (CAFA).
Cook County — home of Chicago — remains on ATRA’s “Watch List” for the third straight year as a preferred place for personal injury lawyers to filed their claims.
The ATRA report describes Cook County as “one of the most inhospitable places for a business to face a lawsuit in the country.” Chicago itself, the report states, “is routinely targeted by plaintiffs looking for an easy settlement — a culture of lawsuit abuse that has cost the city $192 million since 2012.”
While ATRA is releasing the annual “Judicial Hellholes” report, the Institute for Legal Reform is issuing two reports, “Litigating in the Field of Dreams,” which focuses on Madison County, and “A Docket on the Brink,” which details how Cook County is following a similar path.