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New Report Questions Cook County “Lawsuit Tax”
(Springfield, IL) – A new report says taxpayers in Cook County have been stuck with the bill for 190-million dollars in court costs over the past few years in the form of a “lawsuit tax.” Travis Akin with the Illinois Lawsuit Abuse Watch says between 2006 and 2008 Cook County government paid out millions more than expected. He says the “lawsuit tax” gets lost in all of the talk about sales taxes and income taxes.
Akin1 :25 …in the state.
But Pete Flowers with the Illinois Trial Lawyers Association says Akin’s math is fuzzy. He says each case is unique, and you can’t look at three years of settlements and judgments or lump various counties together.
Flowers3 :13 …to another city.
The I-LAW report compares Cook County to DuPage County and Los Angles County California.
Akin says many of the cases are “frivolous” or “ridiculous.” He sites a suit brought by a woman who was splashed by dolphins at the Brookfield Zoo. Flowers says the largest payments are from brutality cases settled against Cook County. He says those cases aren’t ridiculous.
Both men say lawmakers need to consider “their numbers” before moving ahead with judicial reform.
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Lawsuit Abuse Report: Cook County Paying “Lawsuit Tax”
(Springfield, IL) – With candidates for Governor talking about an income tax increase and Cook County leaders talking about a sales tax roll back, one judicial group is talking about a hidden “lawsuit tax.”
The Illinois Lawsuit Abuse Watch has a new report which says people in Cook County paid 190-million dollars in settlements and judgments between 2006 and 2008. Travis Akin with I-LAW says that amounts to millions of dollars in hidden taxes. He says some of the payments went to slip and fall victims or to fight cases like that of a woman who was splashed by a dolphin at the Brookfield Zoo. Akin says the costs and the cases are ridiculous.
Not so says Pete Flowers with the Illinois Trial Lawyers Association. Flowers says the numbers behind the I-LAW study are “fuzzy” and don’t reflect the true nature of the cases settled in Cook County. Flowers say many of the biggest settlements and judgments came from brutality cases. He says any comparison that is not on a case by case basis is apples and oranges.
Akin says the “lawsuit tax” is the latest judicial black mark against Cook County. Lawsuit Abuse consistently ranks Cook County as one of the worst judicial “hell holes” in the country. Akin says it is becoming the new Madison County. But Flowers says his numbers show a steady decline in the number of lawsuits filed in Cook County.
Both men say they want lawmakers to look at their numbers if they try and legislative any judicial reforms next year.
