Madison and St. Clair Counties again saw the most asbestos case filings for 2022, according to an annual report by Washington D.C.-based technology and management consulting firm KCIC.
The report was released on April 5 and includes filing data from roughly 90 percent of all asbestos lawsuits received by KCIC through Jan. 31, 2023, nationwide.
“There continues to be legislation passed concerning tort reform issues, such as personal jurisdiction and over-naming of defendants on asbestos complaints,” the report states. “So far, there has not been a significant effect on filing statistics. Most asbestos cases are still filed in Madison County, Illinois, and the average number of defendants named on a lawsuit increased slightly to 70 companies. Although many large defendants have filed for bankruptcy in recent years, the number of defendants over the past several years has remained constant, or even increased.”
According to the report, asbestos-related lawsuits were filed in 130 jurisdictions across the country, but 84% of the cases were filed in just 15 jurisdictions.
Despite a 2.3% drop in asbestos case filings last year, Madison County maintained its reputation as the epicenter for asbestos litigation with the most cases filed, making up 27% of the total filings nationwide in 2022. There were 964 asbestos cases filed in 2022 compared to 987 in 2021 and 1,201 in 2020.
The report states that 56% of asbestos plaintiffs filed their claims out-of-state, with a majority of those suits filed in Madison County.
“In fact, 94% of all filings in Madison County (where residency is known) are not filed by Illinois residents,” it states.
St. Clair County saw an even greater drop in case filings, but maintained its rank as having the second largest asbestos docket in the nation. There were 443 asbestos cases filed in 2022, a 32.2% drop from the 653 cases filed in 2021 and closer to the case filings for 2020 - 428.
“The largest decrease was in lung cancer filings, with a 28% decrease compared to 2021 (599 vs. 431 filings),” the report states. “The decrease was due to fewer lung cancer cases being filed by Flint Cooper (65% decreased compared to 2021), SWMW Law (43% decrease compared to 2021), and The Gori Law Firm (14% decrease compared to 2021). Non-malignant filings in St. Clair County also decreased 85% (from41 to 6 filings), but the overall volume of such cases is much smaller than that of lung cancer cases.”
Despite the drop in lung cancer filings in St. Clair County, the report notes that lung cancer cases were still the majority of asbestos cases filed in that jurisdiction.
St. Louis and Cook County were ranked #6 and #7 for the most asbestos cases filed, with 140 cases in St. Louis - a 29.3% drop - and 106 cases in Cook County - a 10.2% drop.
“As with St. Clair County, the biggest decrease in St. Louis filings was also in lung cancer cases,” the report states.
“The same plaintiff firms affecting St. Clair County also affected filings in St. Louis,” it continued. “While The Gori Law Firm had a 36% increase in lung cancer filings in 2022 compared to 2021, this was offset by SWMW Law and Flint Cooper significantly decreasing their cancer filings in St. Louis by 71% and 67%, respectively.”
Overall in 2022, filings declined by 7% with 3,550 total asbestos cases filed. That is nearly 270 fewer lawsuits filed when compared to 2021. When compared to 2018, filings dropped in 2022 by 14%, or 600 fewer lawsuits.
“Since 2018, there has been a ‘stair-step’ decline in filings, with one year decreasing 8% on average and the next staying nearly constant,” the report states.
“The average annual percentage change in filings over the past five years was a 4% decrease, “ it continues. “If the stair-step decline pattern continues, total filings for 2023 would be similar to the total filed in 2022.”
The top three firms filing asbestos-related lawsuits made up 16%, 12% and 10% of the total filings on average. The Gori Firm, based in Madison County, again filed the most asbestos lawsuits nationwide with 587 cases in 2022. The firm’s filings decreased 4.4% from 2021, but it still filed more than 200 more lawsuits than any other plaintiff firm in 2022.
Another Madison County based firm, Simmons Hanly Conroy, filed the second most asbestos-related cases with 367 cases, a 5.4% drop from the 388 cases filed in 2021. The firm filed roughly 20% of all mesothelioma cases nationwide.
Other local plaintiff firms listed as top filers include Maune Raichle Hartley French & Mudd, SWMW Law, Cooney & Conway, Napoli Shkolnik and Flint Cooper.
Maune Raichle and Napoli Shkolnik saw two of the biggest increases in filings with a 17% increase and 29% increase. Maune Raichle’s filing numbers are mostly attributed to its 38% increase in mesothelioma filings in Madison County, and Napoli Shkolnik’s 63% increase in lung cancer filings in Madison County.
“This is a notable increase in lung cancer cases in a year where nationwide lung cancer filings decreased 18% and total Madison County lung cancer filings decreased by 1%,” the report states.
Flint Cooper and SWMW both had notable decreases in filings in 2022, with a 62% drop and 43% drop respectively.
“Most of [Flint Cooper’s lung cancer] filings had previously been filed in St. Clair County, Illinois,” the report states. “Flint Cooper also had a 71% decrease in mesothelioma filings (from 34 to 10 filings), mostly affecting Madison County, Illinois.”
As for SWMW, “the most prominent factor was a 44% decrease in lung cancer filings, with nearly 100 fewer lung cancer cases filed in 2022 than in 2021. The difference in lung cancer filings occurred in St. Clair County; St. Louis, Missouri; and Madison County. SWMW Law also had a 27% decrease in mesothelioma filings, with most of the decrease occurring in Madison County,” the report continues.
When broken down by disease, KCIC reports that mesothelioma cases make up the majority of total filings and increased by 2.2% with 1,819 filings in 2021 and 1,859 cases in 2022. The report states that Illinois made up about half of all mesothelioma cases over the past five years, but filings from 2021 to 2022 decreased by about 2%.
“Compared to 2021, mesothelioma claims - the main economic driver of asbestos litigation - were fairly static, with only a slight increase,” the report states. “The trend of lawsuits alleging mixed exposures (traditional asbestos plus cosmetic talc) continued and became even more concentrated in mesothelioma filings, bringing increasing numbers of younger, female plaintiffs into the litigation.”
Specifically, Madison County remains the jurisdiction-of-choice for mesothelioma claims.
“In this jurisdiction, increases in mesothelioma filings from Maune Raichle Hartley French & Mudd and The Gori Law Firm were outweighed by decreases in mesothelioma filings from Simmons Hanly Conroy, Cooney and Conway, SWMW Law, and Flint Cooper,” the report states.
All other claims dropped including lung cancer, other cancer, non-malignant and unknown asbestos claims.
“The 2022 filings did, at least temporarily, halt the increasing trend in lung cancer filings seen since 2018. Lung cancer filings, which have been more volatile over the past several years, saw the first decline in filings since 2017, and filings for other disease types declined as well,” the report states.
Specifically, lung cancer cases dropped from 1,518 in 2021 to 1,251 in 2022, or a 17.6% decrease. The drop in cases “marks the first time that lung cancer filings have decreased since 2017.”
Despite the decrease, St. Clair County remains the epicenter for lung cancer filings.
“One third of all 2022 lung cancer lawsuits were filed there, and approximately three times as many lung cancer lawsuits were filed there than in any other jurisdiction,” the report states. “The concentration of lung cancer filings in St. Clair County has increased over the last three years, from 27% of all lung cancer filings in 2020 to 34% in 2022.”
The report states that the drop in lung cancer cases is “mostly due to decreases in lung cancer filings in four of the top five jurisdictions and by four of the top five plaintiff firms for lung cancer filings.”
The Gori Law Firm filed the most lung cancer lawsuits with 354 cases, an 8.1% drop from last year’s 385 cases. St. Clair County, Madison County and St. Louis also saw decreases in lung cancer filings from SWMW, Simmons Hanly Conroy and Flint Cooper.
Asbestos talc cases have also become more popular in recent years “after many highly publicized cases and verdicts.” KCIC examined cases that alleged traditional asbestos exposures in addition to cosmetic talc exposure.
“Madison County, Illinois, continues to be the top jurisdiction for talc filings, with 93 talc filings in 2022,” the report states. “This represents nearly 10% of total Madison County filings in 2022 and a 6% increase in talc filings compared to 2021.”
St. Clair County was previously a top jurisdiction for talc filings, with most talc cases filed by The Gori Law Firm in 2019 and alleging lung cancer.
“While this firm has continued filing lung cancer cases in St. Clair County, for the most part, these lawsuits no longer include allegations of talc exposure,” the report states.
KCIC notes that other factors within asbestos litigation may influence filing statistics in the future.
“Factors like tolling or other administrative agreements between defendants and plaintiff firms, pending bankruptcy proceedings, tort reform legislation, and corporate restructuring will likely affect how asbestos claims are filed,” the report states.