(The Center Square) – The St. Louis metro area and Cook County are again among the worst Judicial Hellhole jurisdictions, according to the American Tort Reform Foundation.
The new report released Tuesday by ATR highlights eight judicial jurisdictions across the country that earned the reputation of being “Judicial Hellholes.” Some are known for so-called nuclear verdicts with high monetary awards, like Los Angeles, which came in at No. 1 with a “Tort Tax” of $2,458 per resident and 407,500 jobs lost.
“The jurisdiction separated itself as the worst of the worst in 2025,” the report said. “It saw an eye-popping $1 billion nuclear verdict, fraud allegations exposing abusive litigation practices, and courts entertaining novel liability theories that expand defendants’ exposure.”
New York City came in at No. 2. South Carolina’s asbestos litigation came in at No. 3. Louisiana coastal litigation landed at No. 4.
“This year the first case in the never-ending coastal litigation went to trial and resulted in an astounding nine-figure nuclear verdict,” ATR’s report said. “Louisiana plaintiffs’ lawyers have cozied up to state leaders and the courts are filled with political bias.”
The Philadelphia Court of Common Please came in at No. 5.
“A RICO suit has raised allegations of fraud in Philly’s courts and the Complex Litigation Center is attracting new mass torts litigation nationwide,” the report said. “Nuclear verdicts have reached historic levels and courts allow forum shopping and expansive medical liability. The City remains a hotspot for asbestos litigation.”
At No. 6 this year, St. Louis can be found.
“Out-of-town [Americans with Disabilities Act] litigation is targeting St. Louis small business, and the courts are prolific producers of nuclear verdicts,” the report said. “Judges allow junk science to fuel litigation and are throwing out jury verdicts that they disagree with.”
ATR President Tiger Joyce explains why Cook, Madison and St. Clair counties are at No 7.
“These are the jurisdictions where we believe that litigation simply doesn't operate properly,” Joyce told The Center Square. “It's not properly balanced in terms of the interests of both plaintiffs and defendants.”
In Illinois, ATR says the “tort tax” is more than $1,900 per resident. For a family of four, that means it’s more than $7,600. ATR claims it also costs over 200,000 jobs in Illinois.
“This is not just an academic matter for lawyers and judges and professors,” Joyce said. “This is something that affects everybody.”
Joyce said Illinois is making things worse with a policy recently approved by Gov. J.B. Pritzker.
“And essentially, what it does is it opens up Illinois to litigation from all over the country,” Joyce said. “Where does this go? The basic issue from our perspective is that cases should be brought either where the defendant is, where the plaintiff is, or where the matter arose, not just because some plaintiff's lawyer or some individual thinks that, ‘gee, I, I think I can do better in Illinois.’”
Among other report findings that can be found at JudicialHellholes.org: Illinois trial lawyers spent a combined $110.4 million on more than one million ads across television, print, radio, digital platforms and outdoor mediums.
Rounding out the Top 8 “Judicial Hellholes” is King County and Washington Supreme Court.
“The state’s high court reinstated a nuclear verdict and opened the door to junk science,” the report said. “The courts allow law-shopping and expanded asbestos liability for businesses. King County is now home to novel climate change litigation and is leading the charge against oil and gas companies.”
On the organizations’ “Watch List” are a trio of Georgia counties, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court, Texas, the Michigan Supreme Court and Kentucky.
There are “Points of Light” in the report.
“Among the positive developments, a Colorado court rebuffed medical monitoring damages theory, the Delaware Supreme Court rejected junk science, and the Maine Supreme Court declined to broaden the scope of public nuisance liability,” the report said. “Additionally, a North Carolina court reaffirmed legislative authority to limit noneconomic damages and the Utah high court eliminated ‘phantom damages’ windfalls.”
