Republican gubernatorial candidate Judy Baar Topinka saidWednesday she wants to stop lawyers from shopping in Illinois forfavorable jurisdictions to file their civil lawsuits because it'shurting the state's business climate.
Some have branded Illinois as a paradise for plaintiffs hoping forhuge payouts in lawsuits, a perception that earned Madison County thetitle of "judicial hellhole."
Topinka is proposing a couple of reforms and said she would workwith legislators to get them passed, including letting only out-of-state litigants who have had a significant dispute in their casehappen in Illinois file a lawsuit here. She also wants litigantswithin Illinois to file lawsuits only in the counties where they liveor where a significant part of their case occurred.
But Judy Cates, president of the Illinois Trial LawyersAssociation, said case law already does what Topinka is proposing.
"She is creating an issue where there is none," Cates said.
In March, the Illinois Supreme Court let a lawsuit go forward inSt. Clair County, which is known to be friendly to plaintiffs.Advocates said that ruling showed lawmakers need to step in to makerules about where lawsuits are filed.
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