{"id":231,"date":"2022-12-07T10:46:15","date_gmt":"2022-12-07T14:46:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.duanemorris.com\/classactiondefense\/?p=231"},"modified":"2022-12-07T10:46:15","modified_gmt":"2022-12-07T14:46:15","slug":"the-2022-2023-judicial-hellholes-report-from-the-american-tort-reform-association-on-the-worst-jurisdictions-for-defendants","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.duanemorris.com\/classactiondefense\/2022\/12\/07\/the-2022-2023-judicial-hellholes-report-from-the-american-tort-reform-association-on-the-worst-jurisdictions-for-defendants\/","title":{"rendered":"The 2022-2023 Judicial Hellholes Report From The American Tort Reform Association On The Worst Jurisdictions For Defendants"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>By Gerald L. Maatman, Jr. and Jennifer A. Riley<\/strong><\/p>\n

Duane Morris Takeaways<\/em><\/strong>: Every year the American Tort Reform Association (\u201cATRA\u201d) publishes its \u201cJudicial Hellholes Report,\u201d focusing on litigation issues and identifying jurisdictions likely to have unfair and biased administration of justice. The ATRA recently published its 2022-2023 Report and Georgia is identified as the most disadvantageous jurisdiction in the country for corporate defendants, the highest ever ranking for the state. Readers can find a copy here<\/a> and the executive summary here<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The Judicial Hellholes Report is an important read for corporate counsel facing class action litigation because it identifies jurisdictions that are generally unfavorable to defendants. The Report defines a \u201cjudicial hellhole\u201d as a jurisdiction where judges in civil cases systematically apply laws and procedures in an unfair and unbalanced manner, generally to the disadvantage of defendants. The Report is a \u201cmust read\u201d for anyone litigating class actions and making decisions about venue strategy.<\/p>\n

The 2022 Hellholes<\/strong><\/p>\n

In its recently released annual report, the ATRA identified 8 jurisdictions on its 2022 hellholes list \u2013 which, in order, include: (1) Georgia (with massive verdicts bogging down business and third-party litigation financing is playing an increasing role in litigation); (2) Pennsylvania (especially in the Philadelphia Court of Common Pleas and the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania); (3) California (with Proposition 65 lawsuits thriving and a huge overall volume of lawsuits, in addition to Private Attorney General Act (PAGA) litigation and Americans with Disability Act (ADA) accessibility lawsuits; (4) New York (with\u00a0\u201cno-injury\u201d consumer class action lawsuits and the highest volume of lawsuits under the ADA); (5) Illinois (particularly in Cook County as another \u201cno-injury required\u201d hotspot and lawsuits stemming from the Illinois Biometric Information Privacy Act); (6) South Carolina (particularly in asbestos litigation); (7) Louisiana (including deceptive lawsuit advertising practices, coastal litigation, and COVID-19 litigation); and (8) St. Louis, Missouri (with focuses on asbestos litigation and \u201cphantom damages\u201d).<\/p>\n

According to the ATRA\u2019s analysis, these venues are less than optimal for corporate defendants and often attract plaintiffs\u2019 attorneys, particularly for the filing of class action lawsuits. Therefore, corporate counsel should take particular care if they encounter a class action lawsuit filed in one of these venues.<\/p>\n

The 2023 \u201cWatch List\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n

The ATRA also included 3 jurisdictions on its \u201cwatch list,\u201d including Florida (the ATRA noted that Florida has been making strides to mitigate lawsuit abuse, but issues of inflated medical damages and deceptive trial lawyer advertising still remain); New Jersey (with a powerful trial bar), and Texas (particularly the Court of Appeals for the Fifth District, which the ATRA opined has developed a reputation for being pro-plaintiff and pro-liability expansion).<\/p>\n

In addition, the ATRA recognized that several jurisdictions made significant positive improvements this year, highlighting decisions issued by Florida Supreme Court, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit, and the Arizona Supreme Court. The ATRA also noted that nine state legislatures enacted positive civil justice reforms this year.<\/p>\n

\u00a0Implications For Employers<\/strong><\/p>\n

The Judicial Hellholes Report often mirrors the experience of companies in high-stakes class actions, as Georgia, California, New York, Pennsylvania, Illinois, Louisiana, Missouri, and South Carolina are among the leading states where plaintiffs\u2019 lawyers file class actions. These jurisdictions are linked by class certification standards that are more plaintiff-friendly and more generous damages recovery possibilities under state laws.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Gerald L. Maatman, Jr. and Jennifer A. Riley Duane Morris Takeaways: Every year the American Tort Reform Association (\u201cATRA\u201d) publishes its \u201cJudicial Hellholes Report,\u201d focusing on litigation issues and identifying jurisdictions likely to have unfair and biased administration of justice. The ATRA recently published its 2022-2023 Report and Georgia is identified as the most … <\/p>\n

Continue reading “The 2022-2023 Judicial Hellholes Report From The American Tort Reform Association On The Worst Jurisdictions For Defendants”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":575,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"ppma_author":[7,9],"class_list":["post-231","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-general"],"authors":[{"term_id":7,"user_id":575,"is_guest":0,"slug":"gmaatman","display_name":"Gerald L. Maatman, Jr.","avatar_url":"https:\/\/blogs.duanemorris.com\/classactiondefense\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/56\/2022\/09\/maatmangerald-100x100.jpg","0":null,"1":"","2":"","3":"","4":"","5":"","6":"","7":"","8":""},{"term_id":9,"user_id":576,"is_guest":0,"slug":"jariley","display_name":"Jennifer A. Riley","avatar_url":"https:\/\/blogs.duanemorris.com\/classactiondefense\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/56\/2023\/08\/rileyjennifer-100x100.jpg","0":null,"1":"","2":"","3":"","4":"","5":"","6":"","7":"","8":""}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.duanemorris.com\/classactiondefense\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/231","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.duanemorris.com\/classactiondefense\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.duanemorris.com\/classactiondefense\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.duanemorris.com\/classactiondefense\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/575"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.duanemorris.com\/classactiondefense\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=231"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.duanemorris.com\/classactiondefense\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/231\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.duanemorris.com\/classactiondefense\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=231"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.duanemorris.com\/classactiondefense\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=231"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.duanemorris.com\/classactiondefense\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=231"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.duanemorris.com\/classactiondefense\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/ppma_author?post=231"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}