Louisiana lands on Judicial Hellholes watch list

Louisiana’s civil justice system is on the verge of becoming one of the nation’s most unfair and out-of-balance, according to the 11th annual Judicial Hellholes Report, released today by the American Tort Reform Association. In the 2012-2013 report, which ranks California’s system as No. 1, Louisiana is included on the group’s “watch list” for the third straight year. The ATRA’s “watch list” is designed to call attention to jurisdictions that “bear watching due to troubling developments or their histories of abusive litigation.” The report says of Louisiana: “Despite determined reform efforts by certain lawmakers in Baton Rouge, Louisiana’s civil litigation environment, especially in Orleans and St. Landry parishes, remains a concern thanks to laws that still permit excessive liability, plaintiff-friendly judges, and close relationships between the plaintiffs’ bar and some state government officials.” Louisiana Lawsuit Abuse Watch issued a statement in response to the report, saying, “With astonishing multimillion-dollar verdicts being rendered nearly every other week, and laws and judges that seem to give plaintiffs the upper hand in legal proceedings, it is no wonder that we’ve become a regular on the Hellholes watch list.” See the Judicial Hellholes report on Louisiana, and access the complete report, here.