Hey Now!

Whether you do plaintiffs or defense work, I hope you share my view that this report is a stinkin', heapin' load of crap and an absurd assault on our judiciary:

An advocacy group lambasted the South Florida courts Tuesday, calling them collectively the No. 1 ''judicial hellhole'' in the country.

Rankings released Tuesday reflect those areas that the pro-business lobbying group considers the worst legal venues for lawsuit defendants.

The American Tort Reform Association said it strives in its annual rankings to ``identify areas of the country where the scales of justice are radically out of balance, and to provide solutions for restoring balance, accuracy and predictability to the American civil justice system.''

The group said South Florida topped the latest list for, among other things, ``its reputation for high awards and plaintiff-friendly rulings that make it a launching point for class actions, dubious claims and novel theories of recovery.''

A spokeswoman for Miami-Dade County Circuit Court, Eunice Sigler, said the judges had not read the report and had no immediate comment.

South Florida is followed on the list by Texas' Rio Grande Valley and Gulf Coast; Illinois' Cook County, including Chicago; West Virginia; and Nevada's Clark County, which includes Las Vegas.

I remember when these jokers did a number last year on St. Claire County in Southern Illinois, with even the President making a drive-by attack on the judiciary there. Let's hope he passes on South Florida this time.