Cook, Madison and St. Clair Counties among preferred jurisdictions for plaintiffs’ attorneys
Illinois’s Cook, Madison and St. Clair Counties finds themselves on the Judicial Hellholes list at No. 7 because they are magnets for no-injury class action lawsuits, have a disproportionate amount of asbestos litigation, and judges allow frivolous lawsuits concerning the Biometric Information Privacy Act to proceed.
The state legislature did not propose legislative reforms to address these issues and instead looked to a liability-expanding agenda in 2019. More of the same is expected in 2020.
The 2019 Judicial Hellholes report of the American Tort Reform Foundation finds that the legal climate in the counties ranks as one of the worst in the country.
“Lawyers flock to these counties because they know they’ll find judges and courts with low barriers of entry for often frivolous lawsuits,” American Tort Reform Foundation President Tiger Joyce said.
Illinois’s Biometric Information Privacy Act (BIPA) is fertile ground for lawsuit abuse by trial lawyers. The law is unique in that it allows for a private right of action, something not included in other states’ biometric privacy regulation. It also provides for a minimum of $1,000 per violation.
In a case involving Six Flags, the Illinois Supreme Court found that a plaintiff does not need to have suffered actual harm to maintain and win a lawsuit filed under BIPA. This liability-expanding decision quickly led to a flurry of BIPA class action filings. One law firm reported that in the first 5 months after the decision, the Illinois plaintiff’s bar filed nearly as many BIPA class actions as it did during the prior 10 years. An overwhelming majority of these cases were filed in the Cook County Circuit Court.
Madison County specifically is preferred by plaintiffs’ lawyers to bring asbestos claims. In 2018 the county had almost three times the filings than its next closest competing jurisdiction. St. Clair County also continues to rise in the rankings. The county saw a 30% increase in filings in 2018.
Illinois is a magnet for consumer class action lawsuits targeting the food and beverage industry. Its courts are in the Top 3 most popular in the U.S. for lawsuits alleging a product’s labeling or packaging could mislead consumers. They often sue over words on labels like “natural” or “no preservatives.” Other cases include alleged “slack fill” if a consumer thinks the packaging could have fit more of the product.
From 2001 to 2016, trial lawyers donated more than $35 million to Illinois political campaigns. The campaign contributions went to legislators, constitutional officers, judges, state’s attorneys, county board chairmen, circuit clerks, county party chairmen, mayors, union leaders and politically allied special interests.
“The Illinois trial bar is one of the most powerful in the country,” Joyce said. “The legislature pursued an aggressive liability-expanding agenda in 2019 and enacted bills to give their trial lawyer donors more opportunities to sue.”
A recent poll shows that 80% of Illinois residents do not believe lawmakers are doing enough to combat lawsuit abuse.
Excessive tort costs in Illinois resulted in estimated loss of more than 81,000 jobs and nearly $5 billion in personal income as of 2018. In Chicago, nearly 70,000 jobs were lost and $4.4 billion was lost in personal income due to the excessive tort costs.
“Our hope is that this report on Judicial Hellholes will be a loud wake-up call for government officials to stop the abuses,” Joyce said. “Stop creating more ways for lawyers to sue businesses, stop wasting money in court, and stop contributing to job loss.”
The country’s Judicial Hellholes are:
1. Philadelphia Court of Common Pleas
2. California
3. New York City
4. Louisiana
5. St. Louis
6. Georgia
7. Illinois’s Cook, Madison and St. Clair Counties
8. Oklahoma
9. Minnesota Supreme Court and the Twin Cities
10. New Jersey Legislature
The Judicial Hellholes report is released each December by the American Tort Reform Foundation to shine a light on abuses in the civil justice system and in state legislative bodies.
View the full report and read more details on the counties’ designation at JudicialHellholes.org.
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About the American Tort Reform Association (ATRA): The American Tort Reform Association, based in Washington, D.C., is the only national organization dedicated exclusively to tort and liability reform through public education and the enactment of legislation. Its members include nonprofit organizations and small and large companies, as well as trade, business and professional associations from the state and national level. The American Tort Reform Foundation is a sister organization dedicated primarily to research and public education.