WASHINGTON--A civil litigation reform group said today that six legal jurisdictions that made its "Judicial Hell Holes" list last year are back on it again in a new order that puts West Virginia in first place.

The listing by the American Tort Reform Association was not without controversy an opposing group called the ATLA findings "vicious."

ATLA said last year's number one "hell hole," the Rio Grande Valley and Gulf Coast of Texas, fell to the number three spot in 2006, effectively switching places in the rankings with West Virginia.

South Florida, which was the number six "hell hole' in 2005 was second on the list for this year.

Rounding out the list for 2006 were three Illinois counties, Cook, Madison and St. Clair in the four five and six positions, respectively. Cook County was the number two "hell hole" in 2005, while Madison and St. Clair were listed in the fourth and fifth position last year.

"Judicial Hellholes are places where judges systematically apply laws and court procedures in an unfair and unbalanced manner, generally against defendants, in civil lawsuits," said ATRA president Sherman Joyce.

He said that this year's list points more directly to judges themselves than to the overall legal system.

"What many will find interesting about this year's report is that the top six Hellholes are in states that recently enacted significant tort reforms," he said, "yet a handful of judges are either ignoring those reforms or otherwise abusing their discretion to distort cases in favor of plaintiffs."

Other jurisdictions were placed on the ATRA's "watch list," including Harris County Arkansas, Los Angeles and San Francisco.

Lisa A. Rickard, president of the U.S. Chamber Institute for Legal Reform, said increasing troubles in these jurisdictions are evidence that litigation issues businesses face in judicial "hell holes" are not going away.

"The rapid spread of lawsuit abuse into other parts of the country is perhaps more disconcerting to legal reformers than the persistence of traditional jackpot jurisdictions,' she said.

Ms. Rickard added, "The resilience and inventiveness of the plaintiffs' bar is demonstrated by the spread of abusive litigation into San Francisco and Miller County, Arkansas. The need to make judicial and legislative changes that will help level the playing field in jurisdictions identified in the report has never been greater."

ATRA noted some progress towards its goals in the report, mentioning several legal "point of light" including the Illinois Supreme Court and the California Appellate courts.

Mr. Joyce noted that due to the Illinois high court and some local judges, "perhaps the most encouraging improvement" was in Madison County, Illinois, which has been a fixture on the "hell holes" list for years.

"But make no mistake, the danger of regression persists and is very real," Mr. Schwartz cautioned. "New leadership at the organization formerly known as the Association of Trial Lawyers of America has pledged to undertake a massive political and public relations campaign."

Mr. Schwartz said, "We're already seeing a post-election effort to rollback reasonable reforms and undermine the fairness and predictability of our civil justice system. Expect personal injury lawyers to fight for expansions of liability with so-called 'consumer protection' lawsuits and public nuisance actions, among other troubling tactics."

The Center for Justice & Democracy, which opposes ATRA, attacked the "hell holes' report as "vicious and undemocratic," saying it attacked fair judges and reflected the views of corporations.

"Coming just weeks after elections in which voters soundly rejected judicial candidates backed by ATRA and other corporate-backed groups, this report is sheer nonsense, and certainly out of touch with the American public," said Joanne Doroshow, executive director for CJ&D.

"The American public does not want judges to have to look over their shoulder to calculate how their decisions might play with corporate-backed special interest groups like this," she said.

Special Reports /

A New Judicial 'Hellholes' List Issued

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