In the 15 years that the American Tort Reform Foundation has published its annual Judicial Hellholes report, spotlighting some of the least fair civil court jurisdictions in the country, Virginia’s courts have rarely been mentioned. The state’s historic willingness to promote business and thus boost economic growth and job creation has generally worked to contain certain trial lawyers and judges who would rather promote lawsuit abuse.

But for the past two years, our report has cited the Superior Court in Newport News on its “Watch List” of jurisdictions that are unfair but not so bad as to rank among the nation’s worst. And, after additional research and a continuing string of blatantly one-sided rulings against asbestos defendants, my organization has decided to make a rare mid-year addendum to our report and now rank Newport News among those Judicial Hellholes.