FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
CONTACT: Linda Okun
PHONE: (626) 824-8927
November 6, 2003
The newly released report,
“Bringing Justice to Judicial Hellholes 2003” confirms
that Los Angeles has become a county known for appeasing trial
lawyers and tossing aside equal justice. The second annual report
released by the American Tort Reform Association (ATRA) identified
Los Angeles County as having one of 13 “judicial hellholes”
nationwide where lawsuit abuse occurs.
Los Angeles County, via
the Central Civil West Courthouse, doled out the largest verdict
of any county in the nation in 2001. In one case, the judge urged
the jury to "send a notice to the world"; the jury followed
his instructions by awarding $760 million in punitive damages.
Since then, the Central
Civil West Courthouse has become known by trial lawyers as “the
Bank,” which speaks to how horrible the problem has become.
Lawyers are purposely filing suits there because they know they
can win outrageously high verdicts. This serves only to delay
justice for those who live in the area and who seek a fair and
speedy trial. What does that say about justice in Los Angeles?
Hopefully, this badge
of dishonor serves as a wake up call for the Los Angeles court
system. It’s time to restore balance to our courts. Abuses
in our legal system should not be allowed to thrive.
The “judicial
hellhole’s” report is available at www.atra.org.
For more information on these issues, please contact Los Angeles
CALA at (626) 824-8927 or maryann@maryannmaloney.com
.
Linda Okun is the Executive Director of Citizens
against Lawsuit Abuse in Los Angeles, a nonprofit, grassroots
public education organization. Write to her c/o CALA at P.O. Box
262 - Glendora, CA 91740, or via email at maryann@maryannmaloney.com.
IMPORTANT NOTE: If you would like a CALA
speaker to address your organization or some information for your
organization's newsletter, let us know today.
CALA is a nonprofit, grass roots, public education
organization dedicated to serving as a watchdog over the legal
system and those who would seek to abuse it for undeserved gain.
More than 9,000 citizens and taxpayers are Los Angeles CALA supporters.
