Statement by the Illinois Trial Lawyers Association on the "judicial hellhole" report

In what has become an annual tradition, our country’s largest polluters, tobacco, insurance and drug companies are attacking Illinois’ civil justice system.

The American Tort Reform Association (ATRA) – a front group for big business – released its annual “judicial hellhole” report today. What this report demonstrates is that these corporate special interests do not like the fact that the judicial system in Illinois does not always give them a “free pass” when engage in anti-consumer behavior or make products that injure and kill people.

ATRA has received funding from a “who’s who” of corporate special interests including Altria (formerly Philip Morris), Dow Chemical, Exxon, Aetna, Geico, State Farm, Pfizer and Johnson & Johnson.

The people of Illinois do not want a civil justice system that is dominated by big business. The fact that regular working people – those without clout or connections – can have access to the legal system when they have been wronged is a basic tenet of our democracy and it is a value that must be preserved. Illinois should be proud of the fact that our legal system can still protect the rights of working people and hold bad corporate actors accountable.

Judy L. Cates
President – Illinois Trial Lawyers Association