New Report Singles Out Most Litigious Illinois Counties
From the Associated Press
While lawsuit-filing rates in most of Illinois are at a 40-year low, they remain high in Cook and Madison counties due, in part, to asbestos cases brought by out-of-staters, a report released Tuesday by tort-reform advocates says.
The 14-page report from the Illinois Civil Justice League, which has long argued that too much litigation hurts the business environment, compares all 102 counties in Illinois by lawsuits filed per 1,000 residents.
Combined, it found 99 counties had 1.2 lawsuits per thousand residents in 2013 — the lowest figure since 1974.
But the rate in Madison, which hugs St. Louis, was 8.2 per thousand, the state's highest rate. Cook, Illinois' most populous county, had a rate of four per thousand.
"This latest study has uncovered disturbing data that shows why business has been hesitant to invest in Illinois," said the league's president, John Pastuovic. He said Illinois' litigiousness makes businesses "justifiably gun shy."
An Illinois Trial Lawyers Association statement called the report was "a pathetic attempt to put a phony academic gloss on the effort to strip middle- and lower-income Illinoisans of their constitutional right to access the courts."
"Illinois courts provide an even-handed avenue for individuals to hold wrongdoers accountable," it added.
Read more in our daily News Update...
From the Associated Press
While lawsuit-filing rates in most of Illinois are at a 40-year low, they remain high in Cook and Madison counties due, in part, to asbestos cases brought by out-of-staters, a report released Tuesday by tort-reform advocates says.
The 14-page report from the Illinois Civil Justice League, which has long argued that too much litigation hurts the business environment, compares all 102 counties in Illinois by lawsuits filed per 1,000 residents.
Combined, it found 99 counties had 1.2 lawsuits per thousand residents in 2013 — the lowest figure since 1974.
But the rate in Madison, which hugs St. Louis, was 8.2 per thousand, the state's highest rate. Cook, Illinois' most populous county, had a rate of four per thousand.
"This latest study has uncovered disturbing data that shows why business has been hesitant to invest in Illinois," said the league's president, John Pastuovic. He said Illinois' litigiousness makes businesses "justifiably gun shy."
An Illinois Trial Lawyers Association statement called the report was "a pathetic attempt to put a phony academic gloss on the effort to strip middle- and lower-income Illinoisans of their constitutional right to access the courts."
"Illinois courts provide an even-handed avenue for individuals to hold wrongdoers accountable," it added.
Read more in our daily News Update...