REPORTS

The 2023-2024 Judicial Hellholes® report shines its brightest spotlight on nine jurisdictions that have earned reputations as Judicial Hellholes®. Some are known for allowing innovative lawsuits to proceed or for welcoming litigation tourism, and in all of them state leadership seems eager to expand civil liability at every given opportunity.

In order to evaluate the actual and potential economic benefits of tort reform in the US, states, and the District of Columbia, The Perryman Group (TPG) quantified the aggregate excess costs associated with the current system, allocated this amount across states based on the cost relative to overall economic activity, and examined the resulting downstream effects. Effective reform measures can reduce or eliminate these costs to the benefit of each state.

America’s civil justice system has been plagued with lawsuit abuse for decades, and we’re all paying the price for it. Our skewed and unfair tort system has encouraged the filing of frivolous lawsuits and awarded excessive damages that are out of touch with reality. Taken together, the U.S. tort system has had a devastating impact on hardworking American families and small business owners.

Not surprisingly, Louisiana is included in the report for a thirteenth year. Despite some recent legal reform successes at the state level, Louisiana is down only one spot from last year, ranking as the seventh-worst Judicial Hellhole in the U.S. in 2022-23.

The American Tort Reform Foundation began publishing its annual Judicial Hellholes® report and rankings in 2002. The December 2021 release will mark the 20th anniversary of the report, which shines a bright light on abuses in the country’s civil justice system. Over those 20 years, some have heeded the warning of being named a Judicial Hellhole®, actively making changes to rebalance their civil justice systems. Others, however, remain in the dregs, making little improvement or even becoming more deeply entrenched, year after year.

More than 70 percent of Pelican State residents do not support diverting money from coastal erosion lawsuits away from efforts to restore Louisiana’s coastline. 

Louisiana Lawsuit Abuse Watch (LLAW) today released the 2021 Impact of Tort Costs and the Potential Economic Benefits of Tort Reform, an assessment measuring the impact of excessive civil court costs on Louisiana’s economy. Citizens Against Lawsuit Abuse (CALA) commissioned John Dunham & Associates (JDA) to conduct analysis on these impacts and the potential economic benefits of tort reform in Louisiana. 

John Dunham & Associates conducted analysis to examine the negative impact of tort costs and the potential economic benefits of tort reform in Louisiana. 

The analysis concluded that through tort reform, cities like New Orleans and its home state of Louisiana can reap the benefits of a more efficient judicial system while growing the economy.

John Dunham & Associates conducted analysis to examine the negative impact of tort costs and the potential economic benefits of tort reform in Louisiana. 

The analysis concluded that through tort reform, cities like Baton Rouge and its home state of Louisiana can reap the benefits of a more efficient judicial system while growing the economy.

John Dunham & Associates conducted analysis to examine the negative impact of tort costs and the potential economic benefits of tort reform in Louisiana. 

The analysis concluded that through tort reform, cities like Shreveport and its home state of Louisiana can reap the benefits of a more efficient judicial system while growing the economy.

John Dunham & Associates conducted analysis to examine the negative impact of tort costs and the potential economic benefits of tort reform in Louisiana. 

The analysis concluded that through tort reform, cities like Lafayette and its home state of Louisiana can reap the benefits of a more efficient judicial system while growing the economy.

ILR’s latest research paper examines new developments in the long-running saga of lawyer-generated coastal erosion lawsuits against Louisiana energy companies.

A recent, $100 million settlement between one mid-size energy company (which no longer operates in the state) and a group of private attorneys representing local parishes threatens to up-end the entirety of state coastal policy. Moreover, this one-off settlement threatens the successful coastal protection and restoration regimes already in place in the state.