New Report Names Cook County a "Judicial Hellhole"

(Chicago) – Cook County, internationally known as a favorite destination for personal injury lawyers and plaintiffs looking to cash in playing the lawsuit lottery, has cemented its status as the “Lawsuit Abuse Capital of America,” with Cook County being named today to a list of the nation’s “Worst Judicial Hellholes.”

The annual report on the nation’s worst “Judicial Hellholes” comes from the American Tort Reform Foundation, which defines a “judicial hellhole” as “a place where judges systematically apply laws and court procedures in an unfair and unbalanced manner.” That statement is especially true of Cook County, explained Travis Akin, executive director of Illinois Lawsuit Abuse Watch (I-LAW), a non-partisan, grassroots legal watchdog group.

“Christmas comes but once a year for most of us, but for the personal injury lawyers who have turned the Cook County courthouse into their own personal ATM machine, it’s Christmas every day,” said Akin.

“Our judges have allowed greedy personal injury lawyers to turn Cook County courts into their own personally profitable playground. These personal injury lawyers spend millions on ubiquitous TV ads and billboards that encourage people to sue, resulting in a flood of frivolous lawsuits that clog Cook County courts and delay justice for people with legitimate claims.”

Cook County has long been known as a haven for frivolous lawsuits, so Akin said it was no surprise that an enterprising personal injury lawyer recently filed a lawsuit in Cook County court against Walgreens for mistakenly applying the new soda pop tax to unsweetened sparkling water.

“Here we have someone looking to cash in on a mistake that only cost him pennies and was quickly corrected by Walgreens,” explained Akin. “If frivolous lawsuits filed against hometown employers like Walgreens somehow succeed, the personal injury lawyers stand to win millions, while pop drinkers win pennies, and Walgreens, which employs tens of thousands of people in Illinois, may have to reduce the number of jobs here or raise prices for consumers.

Even in cases when these junk lawsuits are eventually lost, the cost of fighting frivolous lawsuits often does force companies to raise prices, which means aggressive personal injury lawyers are responsible for a “lawsuit tax” that’s added on to everything you buy. Studies have shown this “lawsuit tax” adds up to over $800 per year for every person in Illinois, or over $3,000 for a family of four.

Personal injury lawyers also give millions to Illinois judges in campaign contributions, so Akin said we should not be surprised that the court system in Cook County is so out of balance and so favorable to plaintiffs. “Judges will soon start asking us for our votes, and we should ask them if they will take campaign money from personal injury lawyers or if they will stand up to them and impose sanctions on those who file job-killing frivolous lawsuits in their courts.”

Akin added, “Judges can create jobs by stopping lawsuit abuse in their courts. If we want to keep Walgreens based in Cook County and attract Amazon and the 50,000 jobs they will bring, we need judges who will not allow Cook County to remain a ‘Judicial Hellhole.’

For more information on the “Judicial Hellholes” report and I-LAW’s efforts to restore common sense and fairness to Cook County courts, visit I-LAW’s website at www.ILLawsuitAbuseWatch.org.

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Illinois Lawsuit Abuse Watch (I-LAW) is a grassroots watchdog group of concerned citizens, community leaders and small business people dedicated to educating the public about the widespread costs of lawsuit abuse. I-LAW has more than 20,000 supporters throughout Illinois. Anyone interested in becoming a supporter of I-LAW or learning more about stopping lawsuit abuse in Illinois can visit www.ILLawsuitAbuseWatch.org.