The national spotlight cast on Metro East courts may have finally burned out.
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As in years past, progressive groups, trial lawyers and even some local officials were quick to question the so-called "Hellholes Report," an annual survey of corporations' experiences in courts around the country. Critics have long considered it to be sensational — this year's cover features brass scales melting into a field of lava — and little more than propaganda.
"Consider the source. The report is absolutely subjective," said Bruce Kohen, president of the Illinois Trial Lawyers Association. "If people really thought about it, it's not much different from asking convicted inmates to evaluate the criminal justice system. What would you expect them to say?"
Similarly, groups such as the Center for Justice and Democracy and the American Association for Justice came out against the report even before it was released.
"To further pad their profits, big corporations using their front group ATRA, are once again misleading the public with propaganda to support their case that America no longer needs a civil justice system," said a statement from Jon Haber, chief executive of the justice association, the nation's leading trial lawyers group.
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