News & Articles

07 December 2017

Judicial Hellhole List 2017/2018

The Judicial Hellhole list for this year has been released and it appears that Florida and California have moved straight to the top two spots on the list. (Judicial Hellholes) While dropping two spots to make room for those two states, St. Louis City, MO continues to earn it’s high ranking no.3 spot on this list largely because of U.S. Supreme Court decisions that have severely curbed the forum shopping that used to go on.  (Last year St. Louis was no. 1 on the list!)  Notwithstanding that point, the city’s circuit court continues to play host to numerous talc and asbestos verdicts and is renowned for plaintiff friendly rulings.  Madison and Cook Counties, Illinois, have both maintained their spots in the top eight on the list albeit remaining tied for seventh place now.   The good news for Illinoisans is that St. Clair County, conspicuous by its absence, was formerly tied with those two counties for fifth last year, but has now apparently been eliminated from not only the Hellhole list but also from the “Judicial Watch list” as well.  Perhaps Cook & Madison Counties can look forward to being bumped to the Watch list if other jurisdictions jump to the front like Florida and California.