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Every year, we can expect an annual dose of propaganda from the American Tort Reform Association about "judicial hellholes," among which West Virginia can be expected to rank prominently
This is usually followed by further noisemaking along similar lines by the Chamber of Commerce.
Presumably, the idea is to shock us into such a state of awe that we no longer allow workers, consumers, and citizens access to the legal system.
a new study by two West Virginia University professors disputes the Chamber's claims. It says the number of tort cases are actually declining, and the state's judges don't see an increase in frivolous lawsuits.
Among its conclusions is that the legislature develop
better data collection systems that would allow West Virginians to more intelligently assess and debate what our courts do and how that might be improved, rather than relying on self-interested representations of reality to pass for cogent analysis on the state of our courts.
Is anyone else out there as tired as El Cabrero and the critters at Goat Rope Farm of the ceaseless barrage of commercials from the U.S. Chamber of Commerce about what a terrible legal climate we have here?
They love to harp on a survey of the corporation-backed American Tort Reform Association that claims to show that WV is a "judicial hellhole." Most likely, they surveyed members, corporate defendents and their attorneys.
Scientifically, methinks it's almost as good as asking eighth graders whether algebra sucks and using the results as a basis to evaluate that branch of mathematics. Here's an evaluation of the "judicial hellhole" rankings from The Center for Justice and Democracy.
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