Proposition 65, No-Injury Food and Beverage Class Actions, PAGA, ADA, Lemon Law, Climate Change Litigation, and COVID-19 Liability Issues Were the Illustrative Matters Leading To California’s Ranking.
The American Tort Reform Foundation’s 2022-2023 Judicial Hellholes Report is out, in which it ranks California #3, preceded by #1 Georgia and #2 Pennsylvania Supreme Court/Philadelphia Court of Common Pleas as “judicial hellholes.” Here are the types of litigation which led to the #3 ranking:
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- Proposition 65 Litigation – the report noted a 251% rise in these cases between 2012-2021.
- No-injury food and beverage consumer class actions – the report observes, based on a survey by Jones Day, that in 2019 and 2020, class counsel in these cases, on average, received 10% more than the class members they represented.
- PAGA – the interesting development here is that in November 2024, California voters have a ballot initiative to consider by which PAGA would be replaced by a Labor Commissioner complaint process.
- ADA accessibility lawsuits – California is home to more than 50% of the total accessibility cases nationwide, with website accessibility filings jumping more than 3,000% since 2018.
- Lemon Law cases—the report says that between 2018-2021, 34,397 suits of this sort were filed in California state courts.
- Climate change litigation – the report suggests the results are mixed in this area.
- COVID-19 liability cases – the California Supreme Court will consider at least one liability situation where a wife of a husband who caught COVID-19 at a construction site is bringing a liability claim.
The full report is publicly available on the Internet, containing specific cases and rulings by jurists in these areas, plus plaintiffs/law firms involved in these matters and even more statistics.