What Makes A Litigation Hellhole?
December 15, 2008
Jury consultant Robert Samples has an interesting piece in the West Virginia Record that dissects what characteristics typically earn a jurisdiction a designation as a judicial “hellhole” – like West Virginia (Hat tip: Point Of Law). (For a list of all the nation’s judicial hellholes, visit the American Tort Reform Association).
After studying legal environments all across America, Mr. Sample concludes that three main factors turn a jurisdiction into a hellhole:
- A liberal bench that tilts the playing field toward plaintiffs’ attorneys;
- Liberal lawmakers willing to block any effort to reform the legal system;
- A weak business community that leads to an “imbalance of power in the local legal system that favors plaintiffs and is biased against corporations.”
The good news is that litigation hellholes can be transformed into fair, predictable legal environments. Mr. Sample cites Texas and Mississippi, where “the business community and governments…decided to take action.” The bad news is that absent an active, engaged business community that is willing to take a stand – and sometimes take some heat – many courtrooms and jurisdictions will continue to be fully-owned subsidiaries of Trial Lawyers, Inc.