The 2024-2025 Judicial Hellholes report shines its brightest spotlight on 10 jurisdictions that have earned reputations as Judicial Hellholes. Asbestos litigation continues to be a trend within numerous jurisdictions. Specifically, it appears we can continue to count on asbestos litigation in various jurisdictions making the Judicial Hellhole list due to abusive filings and plaintiff-friendly judges and jurisdictions.
New York remains high on the list with South Carolina following closely behind and Cook County, Illinois, and St. Louis, Mo., placing within the Top 10.
As a whole, New York City placed second on the 2024-2025 Judicial Hellholes list. ‘Nuclear verdicts’ are continuously produced in New York, and the asbestos docket is no stranger to this.
New York City saw 305 asbestos-related lawsuits filed in 2023, a 7-percent increase over the prior calendar year. That increase continued into 2024, with 192 lawsuits filed as of July, a 9-percent increase over the preceding mid-year period. New York City courts continue to serve as the third most popular jurisdiction for asbestos litigation. Only Madison and St. Clair counties in Illinois host more asbestos litigation. Recently, a New York appellate court upheld a $23 million award, including $13 million for past pain and suffering and $10 million for future pain and suffering, to an 81-year-old former steamfitter who developed cancer.
The South Carolina asbestos litigation continues to move up on the list. It has now placed third in the 2024-2025 executive summary. Recently, the South Carolina Supreme Courtendorsed the trial court’s low evidentiary requirements and liability expanding rulings. The state is a hotspot for asbestos claims. South Carolina asbestos filings have “more than doubled” since the state’s high court picked Judge Jean Toalto “serve as judge for all of the state’s asbestos cases in 2017.” Not only has it been alleged Judge Toal is biased against defendants, but the judge has also ordered severe and unwarranted sanctions against defendants.
Cases alleging that asbestos exposure caused a person’s lung cancer in particular are significantly increasing. As of mid-October 2024, there were triple the number of lung cancer lawsuit filings in the Palmetto State (12) compared to all of 2023 (four).
Lung cancer filings in 2024 are on pace to shatter the previous record over a 10-year period (seven in 2022). Specifically, out-of-state firms continue to seek out South Carolina as a venue for their cases. South Carolina is also no stranger to nuclear verdicts.
In August 2024, a couple won a $63.4 million verdict against Johnson & Johnson (J&J) and co-defendant beauty product manufacturer American International Industries (AII) alleging that the plaintiff’s mesothelioma was caused by asbestos in talc-based baby powder. The jury awarded the plaintiff $3.8 million in economic damages and $19.3 million for pain and suffering. The plaintiff’s spouse was awarded $9.6 million in loss of consortium damages. In addition, the jury held J&J liable for $30 million in punitive damages and AII liable for $760,000 in punitive damages. However, jurors were not allowed to hear that the plaintiff “worked in a building later condemned for being ‘full of asbestos’ and told his doctor about his suspected exposure to the deadly fibers.”
Cook County and St. Louis placed number six and seven on the list. Both jurisdictions remain a hotspot for nuclear verdicts and lawsuit abuse. We will continue to watch to see if these trends ever change, or if they will remain, Judicial Hellholes.