JUDICIAL "HELLHOLES"

The American Tort Reform Association (ATRA) has issued the latest report on those US judicial districts where "it is nearly impossible to receive a fair trial." Referred to as "judicial hellholes," they are defined as:

. . . places where court procedures and the law are systematically applied in an unfair and unbalanced manner against defendants.

Their predictability of outcome, along with their lower standards for admissibility of expert testimony and certification of class action lawsuits, motivates trial lawyers to choose these jurisdictions.

Richard "Dickie" Scruggs, a trial lawyer whose firm collected $1,400,000,000 in legal fees from tobacco company settlements, describes a judicial hellhole in the following manner.

What I call the "magic jurisdiction,". . .[is] where the judiciary is elected with verdict money. The trial lawyers have established relationships with the judges that are elected; they're State Court judges; they're popul[ists]. They've got large populations of voters who are in on the deal, they're getting their [piece] in many cases. And so, it's a political force in their jurisdiction, and it's almost impossible to get a fair trial if you're a defendant in some of these places. The plaintiff lawyer walks in there and writes the number on the blackboard, and the first juror meets the last one coming out the door with that amount of money . . . . These cases are not won in the courtroom. They're won on the back roads long before the case goes to trial. Any lawyer fresh out of law school can walk in there and win the case, so it doesn't matter what the evidence or law is.

The ATRA report, called "Bringing Justice to Judicial Hellholes 2003," lists 13 areas that were most frequently named by ATRA members as hellholes. Eight are repeat offenders from the ATRA 2002 survey and annotated as such.

1. Madison County, Illinois (repeat)

2. Jefferson County, Texas (repeat)

3. Mississippi's 22nd Judicial Circuit (repeat)

4. Hidalgo County, Texas (repeat)

5. Orleans Parish, Louisiana (repeat)

6. West Virginia, particularly Kanawha County

7. Nueces County, Texas (repeat)

8. Los Angeles County, California (repeat)

9. Philadelphia Court of Common Pleas, Pennsylvania

10. Miami-Dade County, Florida

11. City of St. Louis, Missouri (repeat)

12 & 13. Holmes and Hinds Counties, Mississippi

The report details specific outrageous cases adjudicated in each location. It's interesting reading and good guidance for those that are shopping for a venue.