Americans, egged on by non-stop TV ads from personal injury lawyers, have gone on a “suing spree” that costs the nation billions of dollars and millions of jobs, according to a leading advocate for judicial restraint.
In its latest report on “Judicial Hellholes” shared with Washington Secrets Tuesday, the American Tort Reform Foundation said excessive court rulings result in a “hidden tort tax” on everyone of $1,666 and costs 4.8 million jobs annually.
Overall, the “suing spree” costs $367.8 billion a year, said the report that highlighted the worst of the worst courts where lawyers go to cash in on sympathetic judges and juries.
“These jurisdictions are trial lawyers’ laboratories where they test novel liability theories and concoct new ways to sue,” said Tiger Joyce, president of the American Tort Reform Association. “Personal injury lawyers push abusive lawsuits in Judicial Hellholes that drain resources, unfairly punish small businesses, and reduce access to justice for everyone,” Joyce added.
In this year’s report, Los Angeles moved into the No. 1 spot. Joyce’s group said that what pushed the city to the front of its list of “Judicial Hellholes” was a billion-dollar talc verdict and a multimillion-dollar award in a spilled tea case.
“Lawsuit abuse and judicial bias in Los Angeles have set it apart, propelling the jurisdiction to the very top of the list,” said the report.
For several years, ATRF has shone a spotlight on state and federal courts that OK high payouts in lawsuits. They also note courts that seem to encourage legal “tourism,” where lawyers go to win unusually big payments.
New this year was the “alarming increase” in asbestos and talc litigation and verdicts.
It noted a jump in frivolous lawsuits or claims against businesses by those “with technical nitpicks under laws like the Americans with Disabilities Act.”
The 90-page report also highlighted concerns that moves by Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton are prompting new waves of lawsuits.
The group claimed that Kennedy “breathed new life” into lawsuits against Tylenol maker Kenvue when suggesting that the painkiller can cause autism.
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It also said that Paxton jumped on the Tylenol bandwagon and pushed other lawsuits, endangering Texas’s typically low spot on the annual list.
“Texas once modeled a healthy judicial system, but if Attorney General Paxton isn’t careful with his ‘suing spree’ and keeps chasing headline-grabbing litigation, he’s going to turn his state into a full-blown Judicial Hellhole,” Joyce said.
