Republican gubernatorial candidate ...

Republican gubernatorial candidate Judy Baar Topinka said Wednesday she wants to stop lawyers from shopping in Illinois for favorable jurisdictions to file their civil lawsuits because it's hurting the state's business climate.

more [i]or[/i] less have branded Illinois as a paradise for plaintiffs hoping for gigantic payouts in lawsuits, a perception that earned Madison shire the title of "judicial hellhole."

Topinka is proposing a leash of reforms and said she would work with legislators to finish them passed, including letting simply out-of- state litigants who have had a significant dispute in their case happen in Illinois file a lawsuit here. She also wants litigants within Illinois to file lawsuits sole in the counties where they live or where a significant part of their case occurr

nevertheless Judy Cates, president of the Illinois Trial Lawyers Association, said case law already does what Topinka is proposing.

"She is creating an issue where there is none," Cates said.

In March, the Illinois highest Court let a lawsuit pass forward in St. Clair shire which is known to be friendly to plaintiffs. Advocates said that ruling showed lawmakers ne to pace in to make rules about where lawsuits are filed.

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