Tort Legislation
‘Nuclear verdicts’ and ‘litigation tourism’ are partly why these state courts are high ‘judicial hellholes,’ report says
Courts in Georgia and Pennsylvania are named as high “judicial hellholes” for his or her friendliness to tort plaintiffs in a report. Picture courtesy of the American Tort Reform Basis.
Courts in Georgia and Pennsylvania are named as high “judicial hellholes” for his or her friendliness to tort plaintiffs in a report by the American Tort Reform Basis.
The report criticized Georgia and Pennsylvania for “nuclear verdicts,” outlined as verdicts of $10 million or extra, and “litigation tourism,” wherein plaintiff-friendly state courts allow lawsuits towards out-of-state defendants.
The report named your entire state of Georgia as a “judicial hellhole” however names solely the Pennsylvania Supreme Court docket and the Philadelphia Court docket of Frequent Pleas as hellholes in Pennsylvania.
The report mentioned a 2023 U.S. Supreme Court docket resolution greenlighted litigation tourism when it upheld a Pennsylvania regulation that requires firms to consent to private jurisdiction in state courts in the event that they register to do enterprise within the state.
The choice, Mallory v. Norfolk Southern Railway Co., upheld the regulation in a due course of problem however didn’t tackle whether or not the regulation might stand underneath a commerce clause principle, the ABA Journal reported in June.
The Georgia Supreme Court docket reached an identical resolution in 2021 that grants expansive jurisdiction over out-of-state defendants, based on the report.
One other unfavourable ruling, the report mentioned, is a November resolution on venue by the Pennsylvania Supreme Court docket that may enable many instances towards out-of-state plaintiffs to be heard in plaintiff-friendly courts in Philadelphia.
The court ruled that venue is correct in a county the place an organization maintains “a continuing bodily presence,” similar to via a certified seller promoting its merchandise. The decision is Hangey v. Husqvarna Skilled Merchandise.
The report additionally factors to nuclear verdicts that embrace a $1.7 billion damages award in Gwinnett County, Georgia, in 2022 and an award of almost $1 billion award in Philadelphia in 2023.
In second place on the judicial hellholes record is Cook dinner County, Illinois, adopted by California; New York Metropolis; South Carolina for consolidated asbestos litigation; Lansing, Michigan; Louisiana; and St. Louis.
Law.com spoke with attorneys who criticized the report.
Alfred Carlson, president of the Philadelphia Trial Attorneys Affiliation, mentioned the report is “an affront to the residents” of Pennsylvania and the judges and justices they elect.
“The justices and judges are neutral, truthful and work extraordinarily onerous,” Carlson mentioned.
Evan Holden, a civil protection legal professional with Greenberg Traurig’s Atlanta workplace, instructed Legislation.com that he was shocked to see Georgia on the high of the record.
“My group and myself, we apply in federal courtroom and state courts not simply in Georgia however all through the nation, so I believe we’ve got a novel perspective,” Holden instructed Legislation.com. “We really feel that Georgia will not be a nasty place to be as a company defendant, not to mention primary on this rating.”
The hellholes record appears to be distorted by “a number of runaway verdicts” by juries, he mentioned.
The American Tort Reform Basis, which issued the report, is the educational arm of the American Tort Reform Affiliation, a nonprofit group devoted to reforming the civil justice system.
Reuters additionally has protection of the report. How Appealing famous the Legislation.com protection.
See additionally:
“What state is deemed top ‘judicial hellhole’ following $1.7B verdict against Ford Motor Co.?”
