New chief judge can help Madison County shed its “Judicial Hellhole” reputation

Whenever the topic of lawsuit abuse comes up in a discussion in Illinois inevitably the first thing that comes to most folk’s mind is Madison County. Even people outside of Illinois know of Madison County’s reputation as a magnet for lawsuit abuse.

Madison County desperately needs new jobs, but thanks to the abuse of our courts by out-of-state personal injury lawyers, Madison County is much better at creating lawsuits than jobs. In fact, Madison County is currently ranked the nation’s third worst “judicial hellhole,” and that well-earned reputation for unfairness in our courts is important because new businesses are unlikely to set up shop in a place where the legal climate is unfair and where they are much more likely to get sued.

So when Madison County Chief Judge Ann Callis announced she is stepping down from her post to run for Congress in the 13th District, there understandably is some concern about what direction the County courts are headed.

Judge David Hylla has been named Callis’s successor as chief judge of the Madison County courts, and he definitely has his work cut out for him. Judge Hylla has a chance to take a strong stand against rampant, job-killing lawsuit abuse in Madison County courts by implementing common sense reforms that will restore common fairness to the courts here.

Judge Hylla has a reputation as a good judge, and hopefully, as chief judge, he will take up the mantle of reform and end Madison County’s status as a “Judicial Hellhole” once and for all.