According to the American Tort Reform Association, California tops the nation’s list of “judicial hellholes,” claiming the top slot from Philadelphia. ATRA makes its judgments based on ridiculous lawsuits being greenlit by judges and backed by juries:
No significant signs of much needed reform can be found in the barely solvent Golden State, however, as preposterous consumer class actions, coercive disability access lawsuits and mounting asbestos litigation, among other problems, continue to drive businesses and jobs to less litigious neighboring states while court budgets are slashed and dockets grow evermore backlogged.
ATRA says that California’s class action lawsuits are beyond any other state’s. Companies producing cereal and walnuts have been dragged into court. Small businesses have been targeted by ambulance chasing lawyers who focus on minute technical violations in order to seek huge settlements. Personal injury firms that originate elsewhere are moving like sharks into the chum-laden territory that is California.
Other big losers include West Virginia; Madison County, Illinois; New York City and Albany, New York; and Baltimore, Maryland.