For too long, the American civil justice system has delivered uneven justice. For manufacturers faced with lawsuits, the outcome of the cases they defend is often determined by where they are sued.

Pockets of jurisdictions have developed across the country that act as magnets for mass action litigation because they are perceived as biased against out-of-state defendants. For example, 1,660 asbestos lawsuits were filed in Madison County, Ill., courts in 2013, 92 percent of them on behalf of out-of-state residents. Manufacturing companies from across industries are prime targets for these types of location-driven lawsuits, which often have little true connection to the court in which they are brought.