NAII Hails Avery Appeal as Move Against “Judicial Hellholes”

The NAII strongly approved the Illinois Supreme Court’s decision to review the judgment in the case of Avery vs. State Farm, which awarded $1.2 billion in damages to the plaintiffs in a nationwide lawsuit against the insurer for using non-standard auto parts in car repairs. (See IJ Website Oct.3).

The organization expressed the hope that the decision would “open the door to a reversal” and would “restore competition to the auto replacement parts business.” Its overall concern, however, is the abuse of class action lawsuits by plaintiff’s attorneys. The NAII strongly opposes allowing invidiual state courts to entertain class actions that affect parties in other states.

“We hope the Illinois Supreme Court decides that applying Illinois law to the rest of the nation is improper,” stated Robert Hurns, NAII counsel. The association noted that “The lower court awarded the 4.7 million policyholders $1.2 billion in damages, an unprecedented settlement that has had a chilling effect on the use of competitive parts, which insurers use to hold down repair costs and premiums.”

Hurns pointed out that the lawsuit was driven by the plaintiff’s bar. “It’s no coincidence that Madison County, which heard the original class-action suit, made it to the No. 4 position on American Tort Reform Association’s ‘judicial hellholes’ list,” he noted. ATRA’s recent member survey defines “judicial hellholes” as cities, counties or judicial districts that attract lawsuits from around the nation or region because they are correctly perceived as plaintiff-friendly.

“Because of the many variables involved, parts issues should be dealt with on a case-by-case basis, not en masse in a class-action lawsuit,” Hurns urged. “We hope the Illinois Supreme Court’s eventual position will discourage similar questionable lawsuits from being heard in the courts.”

Topics Lawsuits Illinois