PHILADELPHIA - Massive verdicts as high as $2 billion have landed Philadelphia's court of common pleas the No. 1 spot on the annual "Judicial Hellholes" report by the American Tort Reform Association.
ATRA released its rankings Tuesday, with Philadelphia - a regular player in the report - taking the top spot over No. 2 New York City and South Carolina's asbestos court, which ranked third.
The report highlights jurisdictions in which businesses don't feel they are treated fairly by judges, legislators and juries. Philadelphia's penchant for so-called nuclear verdicts was a driving force behind its ranking.
"Lawsuit abuse in the City of Brotherly Love has reached a fever pitch with nuclear verdicts becoming the norm and novel theories of liability flourishing," the report reads.
Appearing on the list of eye-popping verdicts was the case of Francis and Soomi Amagasu of New Hope. They filed suit in the Philadelphia County Court of Common Pleas in 2018 against Mitsubishi for alleged failure of a seatbelt during a collision in 2017.
Francis was injured when attempting to pass another vehicle. He went off the side of the road while avoiding oncoming traffic, and his lawyers alleged the seatbelt tore in a way that made it become four inches longer.
As a result, his head struck the car's roof and he broke his neck.
After brief deliberations, the jury found in the plaintiffs’ favor to the tune of $976.5 million, comprised of $176.5 million in compensatory damages and $800 million in punitive damages. Philadelphia County Court of Common Pleas Judge Sierra Thomas-Street presided in the case.
An attorney for the plaintiffs, Nancy J. Winkler of Eisenberg Rothweiler Winkler Eisenberg & Jeck in Philadelphia, said “justice was served for our clients.”
Mitsubishi was not allowed by Judge Thomas-Street to introduce evidence the seatbelts complied with safety standards. Against most design defect cases, the company also couldn't argue the plaintiffs failed to show a safer alternative design was available.
"The amount of the decision is egregious, and we believe there are significant legal and evidentiary issues to be addressed on appeal," Mitsubishi said.
ATRA notes that 11.5% of jury verdicts in 2023 were $1 million or more, with another 3.2% going for more than $10 million. These figures have enticed plaintiff lawyers to file high-stakes medical malpractice and Roundup weedkiller cases there.
Earlier this year, a verdict gave $2.25 billion to a Roundup plaintiff alleging exposure to glyphosate caused his non-Hodgkins lymphoma. The product's makers, Monsanto and Bayer, have complained these cases were brought by junk science, and the federal court of appeals in Philadelphia found earlier this year that no cancer warning is required on Roundup.
That won't stop lawyers for pushing their cases in Philadelphia's state court, even though the 10-figure verdict was later reduced to a mere $404 million. The presiding judge found the original verdict was "excessive" and "shocks the conscience."
Monsanto is appealing to the Superior Court, the first step before the state Supreme Court will likely handle its arguments. ATRA doesn't expect much help, considering the low standard for evidence the Supreme Court has established and the plaintiffs bar's political influence in the appeals courts.
In the last seven years, political action committees for the state's and Philadelphia's trial lawyers associations have given $15.3 million, with Justice Daniel McCaffery of the Supreme Court and Judge Maria McLaughlin of the Superior Court receiving nearly $3 million, ATRA wrote.
Other problems in Philadelphia, according to ATRA, resulted in a $725 million verdict against Exxon - which faced allegations exposure to benzene caused a mechanic's leukemia - and an influx of medical malpractice cases in Philadelphia.
Two years ago, a state Supreme Court committee weakened restrictions on where med-mal cases could be filed. Its rules undid a change which went into effect in 2002, which stated that plaintiffs could only file medical malpractice lawsuits in the counties where they received their injuries.
Now, plaintiffs are able to sue medical defendants in counties where they do business or have established ties. This has resulted in Philadelphia becoming the go-to place to sue in Pennsylvania for med-mal lawyers.
And verdicts have rewarded their choice. A former Philadelphia Eagle won $43.5 million over the treatment of his knee injury. The medical practice providing health care to the team, in response, ended its partnership with the team, ATRA notes.
Philadelphia and the rest of the state has for years made it on ATRA's "hellhole list." Rep. Torren Ecker recently announced he plans to introduce several tort reform measures intended to address the reputation.
“As we look towards a new legislative session, lawmakers must make lawsuit abuse reform a priority," said Curt Schroder, president of the Pennsylvania Coalition for Civil Justice Reform.
"It's time to rebalance the scales of justice in the Commonwealth by passing Rep. Torren Ecker’s package of reforms to restore order and fairness in our courts.”