Three Illinois counties were mentioned in the American Tort Reform Foundation’s (ATRF) 2024/2025 Judicial Hellholes Report.

Cook County was designated a “judicial hellhole” and Madison and St. Clair Counties received “dishonorable mentions.” Despite the listing, Cook County saw relative improvement, falling from the #2 “judicial hellhole” in the country to the #6.

The ATRF noted that Cook County is the home to “a disproportionate amount of the state’s litigation,” including no-injury lawsuits. According to the report, 91% of 2022 civil cases in Illinois seeking over $50,000 were filed in Cook County.

These lawsuits come at a significant cost to the Chicago area. According to numbers released by the Perryman Group, the Chicago-Naperville-Elgin Metropolitan Statistical area loses $21 billion in gross product annually and $195,924 jobs, resulting in average excess costs of $2,497 per person.

“Frivolous lawsuits drive up the cost of doing business, contributing to higher prices and fewer employment opportunities,” said NFIB Illinois State Director Noah Finley. “Small-business owners lack the time and money to fight back against predatory lawsuits. Too often they have to accept a settlement and pay off the trial lawyers to protect their businesses.”

On a positive note, the report noted that the Illinois General Assembly passed clean-up legislation for the Biometric Information Privacy Act (BIPA) this spring, limiting damages plaintiffs can seek under the act.

Madison and St. Clair Counties also receive “dishonorable mentions” in the report for being “hotspots for asbestos claims, attracting plaintiffs from across the country due to their favorable litigation environments.”