ICJL Applauds ILR For Madison County Asbestos Campaign
From the Illinois Civil Justice League
The Illinois Civil Justice League has applauded the U.S. Chamber Institute for Legal Reform in their effort to raise awareness about the costs of lawsuit abuse in Madison County.
ILR’s new public awareness campaign called “Clean Up Madison County Courts” focuses on out-of-state litigants who are flooding the county court’s asbestos docket.
“It is a fact that 99 percent of asbestos cases filed in Madison County were filed by plaintiffs who don’t even live there,” according to Ed Murnane, President of the Illinois Civil Justice League.
“Equally disturbing, last year 25 percent of all asbestos cases nationwide were filed in Madison County. That’s a record-breaking total of 1,678 new filings,” he said.
To further illustrate the point, records show that in 2013, Madison County courts heard more asbestos lawsuits brought from Texas than from the entire state of Illinois.
“While Madison County’s court system may be an open faucet flowing with cash for plaintiffs’’ lawyers, the county’s taxpayers and American businesses are drowning because of the runaway costs of this systematic lawsuit abuse,” Murnane added.
“We are hopeful that ILR’s campaign, which includes a television commercial, billboards, direct mail, and online advertisements, will bring a new awareness to the ongoing crisis in Madison County and be a positive step to reforming Madison County’s legal system,” he said.
"We appreciate the support and steadfast effort ILR has provided those of us in Illinois who are working to improve a court system that at times is very much out-of-balance," Murnane said.
Read more in our daily News Update...
From the Illinois Civil Justice League
The Illinois Civil Justice League has applauded the U.S. Chamber Institute for Legal Reform in their effort to raise awareness about the costs of lawsuit abuse in Madison County.
ILR’s new public awareness campaign called “Clean Up Madison County Courts” focuses on out-of-state litigants who are flooding the county court’s asbestos docket.
“It is a fact that 99 percent of asbestos cases filed in Madison County were filed by plaintiffs who don’t even live there,” according to Ed Murnane, President of the Illinois Civil Justice League.
“Equally disturbing, last year 25 percent of all asbestos cases nationwide were filed in Madison County. That’s a record-breaking total of 1,678 new filings,” he said.
To further illustrate the point, records show that in 2013, Madison County courts heard more asbestos lawsuits brought from Texas than from the entire state of Illinois.
“While Madison County’s court system may be an open faucet flowing with cash for plaintiffs’’ lawyers, the county’s taxpayers and American businesses are drowning because of the runaway costs of this systematic lawsuit abuse,” Murnane added.
“We are hopeful that ILR’s campaign, which includes a television commercial, billboards, direct mail, and online advertisements, will bring a new awareness to the ongoing crisis in Madison County and be a positive step to reforming Madison County’s legal system,” he said.
"We appreciate the support and steadfast effort ILR has provided those of us in Illinois who are working to improve a court system that at times is very much out-of-balance," Murnane said.
Read more in our daily News Update...