'Judicial Hellhole'

"Montgomery & Macon Counties in Alabama
Montgomery & Macon Counties in Alabama this year moved up from their recent Watch List rankings thanks to legally excessive verdicts, controversial alliances among government officials and personal injury lawyers, and suspect court rulings. Montgomery County courts returned two of the most excessive verdicts against pharmaceutical companies in the country totaling almost a quarter-billion dollars. Alabama's attorney general outsourced lawsuits to trial lawyers who may be motivated more by their personal interests than by the public interest. Meanwhile, in nearby Macon County, two judges gave new meaning to the phrase "jackpot justice" in awarding a plaintiff 1,000 times the maximum payout of a gaming park's malfunctioning slot machine."



Last modified: Thursday, December 18, 2008 6:19 AM EST

Macon named 'Judicial Hellhole'

By GUY RHODES
Editor
Updated Dec 18, 2008 - 06:19:29 EST

When it comes to lawsuits, Macon County is no stranger to some unusual and puzzling cases.

That isn’t lost on the American Tort Reform Foundation. On Tuesday (December 16), that national organization listed Macon and Montgomery counties among the nation’s “most unfair civil court jurisdictions” in its annual Judicial Hellholes report.

The report states that in Macon and Montgomery counties plaintiffs have been awarded unusually excessive verdicts in civil lawsuits.

Each year the American Tort Reform Association develops a list of states and counties that are considered tilted in favor of plaintiffs in civil suits. The association is funded by business.

The two Alabama counties tied for fifth on the 2008/09 Judicial Hellholes list. Number one was the state of West Virginia, followed by South Florida, Cook County, Illinois, Atlantic County, New Jersey, Montgomery and Macon Counties, Los Angeles, Calif. and at number seven, Clark County, Nevada.

“Backsliding from their recently less onerous rankings on our report’s ‘Watch List,’” began ATRF president Tiger Joyce, “courts in Montgomery and Macon counties have gained full hellhole status with legally excessive verdicts, suspect rulings, and controversial alliances between some government officials and personal injury lawyers.

“Montgomery County courts returned two of the most excessive verdicts against pharmaceutical companies in the country totaling almost a quarter-billion dollars, while two judges in Macon County gave new meaning to the phrase ‘jackpot justice’ by awarding a plaintiff 1,000 times the maximum payout of a gaming park’s malfunctioning slot machine.

“And though the state’s attorney general has recently pledged to make more publicly transparent the various contracts he enters into with private sector personal injury lawyers who litigate on behalf of Alabama citizens, many questions have been raised about these contracts,” Joyce continued.

The case from Macon County resulted from rulings by Circuit Judges Ray Martin and Steve Perryman that awarded a $10 million payout without going to a jury trial when the jury was already seated.

Perryman stopped the trial and awarded Sherry Knowles $10 million she claimed to have won at Macon County Greyhound Park (MCGP) on an electronic bingo machine.

MCGP attorneys planned to argue before a jury that the machine malfunctioned and that there was video proof to show Knowles did not win the large jackpot. MCGP is in the process of appealing the decision.

According to the report, the new classification of "judicial hellhole" marks the first time an Alabama community has made the Washington, D.C.-based group's worst offenders category since the list began in 2002. Last year, Alabama wasn't cited in the report at all. In 2006, the association named Jefferson and Choctaw counties as areas to watch.

Why does the list exist?

“More broadly, lawsuit abuse continues to have a negative impact on the nation’s economy,” explained Joyce. “Every dollar spent defending against a speculative lawsuit is a dollar that won’t be spent on research and development, capital investment, worker training or job creation.

“Unfortunately for those living in Hellholes jurisdictions during this economic downturn, it can be that much harder to find or keep a job, and to receive critical medical care as employers and doctors are driven away by the threat of costly litigation.”