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Two Illinois Counties Still So-Called "Judicial Hellholes"
Madison County is still on the "watch list" for corporate defendants who claim they don't get fair trials there, while Cook County is still a "judicial hellhole."

The American Tort Reform Association, a coalition of business groups, publishes the list of judicial hellholes each year.

Madison County, a former hellhole, is on the watch list this time -- the same place it has been for several years. Ed Murnane of the Illinois Civil Justice League says that's because of the large number of asbestos cases litigated there, because plaintiffs' lawyers who specialize in asbestos are located in Edwardsville.

He says the judges are closely tied to the political process, which is supported by plaintiffs' lawyers. He says this is also true in Cook County.

Murnane said having a courthouse that has access to experienced experts in arcane or specialized litigation, such as asbestos, is not necessarily a bad thing. He could not specify any injustices that had occurred in Madison or Cook counties that warranted inclusion on the list.

Murnane says political influence on judges is a potential problem, and it probably occurs in all counties in Illinois, but most of them have much smaller caseloads than Cook and Madison counties do. He'd like to see judges elected in non-partisan elections, so they would not be dependent on party politics to get on the bench.

(Illinois Radio Network)
12 15 09 by Newsroom
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