The Rankings are in -- West Virginia claims title of "worst state lawsuit climate"

Every year, the Institute for Legal Reform releases its survey on state lawsuit climates, providing  a landscape of the legal system around our country.  Across the board, it isn't a pretty ranking.

The data ranks each state on its liability system through a rigorous year of interviews and onine surveys with "a nationally representative sample of 1,125 in-house general counsel, senior litigators or attorneys, and other senior executives who are knowledgeable about litigation matters at public and private companies."

This year, West Virginia, which has held the title of "worst liability system ranking" for the past four years, continued this race to the bottom in 2012 with a 50 place ranking.  Additional states with bottom rankings included Illinois (46), California (47), Missippi (48) and Louisiana (49).

How important is the litigation environment for a business?  Seventy percent of respondents listed the litigation environment as "somewhat important" or "very important" when deciding where to do business. 

Want to open your doors for business, West Virginia?  Get your legal system in order first.

Create jobs, not lawsuits.