WASHINGTON—New York and the appellate courts of New Mexico have been added to the American Tort Reform Foundation's list of “judicial hellholes,” according to a report released Tuesday.

Other jurisdictions on the list of what the Washington-based tort reform group considers to be the “most unfair civil court jurisdictions” include South Florida; West Virginia; Cook County, Ill.; and Atlantic County, N.J. The report also cites several Watch List jurisdictions that are on the cusp of becoming “hellholes” in California; Alabama; and former “hellhole” jurisdictions in the Rio Grande Valley and the Gulf Coast of Texas; Madison County, Ill.; and Jefferson County, Miss.

Among the jurisdictions noted less severely as “other areas to watch” are Madison County neighbor St. Clair County, Ill.; Orleans and Jefferson parishes in Louisiana; and Clark County, Nev.

“After several years on the Watch List, New Mexico's appellate courts now get to feel some full-blown judicial hellholes heat,” according to the report. “This year the New Mexico Court of Appeals even rejected the ‘baseball rule,' which has long recognized spectators' inherent risk of being hit by a batted ball. In another recent case, the same court found that the manufacturer of a rock crusher could be held liable for the death of a worker, even though the worker disregarded his training and climbed into the machine while it was still in operation, and even though someone else had altered the machine to expose its moving parts.”

New York made the list because “Gotham spent more settling slip-and-falls, medical malpractice, car accident and school-related claims than the next five largest American cities combined. With a personal injury lawyer serving as speaker of the New York Assembly, it's not surprising that many observers have also expressed concern with the trial practices of the new judge handling asbestos litigation in the state,” the foundation said in the report.

“Lawsuit abuse continues to have a negative impact on both the nation's economy and its health care system,” ATRF President Tiger Joyce said in a statement. “Every dollar spent defending against a groundless lawsuit is a dollar that won't be spent on research and development, capital investment, worker training or job creation. Unfortunately for those living in hellholes jurisdictions during this economic downturn, it can be that much harder to find or keep a job and get critical health care services as employers and doctors are driven away by the threat of costly litigation.”

Reacting to the report, a group representing plaintiffs' attorneys harshly criticized the report and the American Tort Reform Assn., which is affiliated with ATRF.

“For years, the most deceitful and predatory corporations have used front groups like ATRA to prevent everyday Americans from receiving justice,” a spokesman for the Washington-based American Assn. for Justice said in a statement. “As our country emerges from this current financial crisis, people realize more than ever why a strong civil justice system is needed to hold wrongdoers accountable. ATRA's report is yet another indication that corporations will say or do anything to weaken Americans' basic legal protections.”

Judicial Hellholes 2009/2010 is available online at www.atra.org.