In order to understand if there are any cities or counties that might impact a state’s ranking, respondents were asked which five cities or counties have the least fair and reasonable litigation environments. The worst jurisdiction was Chicago/Cook County, Illinois (14%), followed by Los Angeles, California (12%), the state of California in general (10%), the state of Texas in general (9%), and Madison County, Illinois (8%).
To understand why respondents feel negatively about particular jurisdictions, a follow-up question was asked to those who cited a jurisdiction. More than a third (37%) of respondents mentioned that the reason why a city or county has the least fair and reasonable litigation environment is because of biased or partial juries/judges. This is the number one reason by a large margin. The next tier includes corrupt/unfair system (8%), excessive damage awards (6%), unfair juries/judges, incompetent juries/judges, a slow process, nonadherence to the laws/rules, and personal experience (each mentioned by 5% of respondents).