A pictorial ranking of the best and worst performers in the 2010 Tort Liability Index

1. U.S. Tort Liability Index: 2010 Report The Best & the Worst By Lawrence J. McQuillan and Hovannes Abramyan

2. AlaskaThe Frontier State Rank: 1

3. New Jersey The Cry Over a Spilled Milkshake State Rank: 50 A New Jersey man sued McDonalds after his spilled milkshake distracted him causing him to run into another man's car. – American Tort Reform Association

4. HawaiiThe Aloha State Rank: 2

5. New York The “Unreasonably Hot” State Rank: 49 New York resident filed a lawsuit against Starbucks for serving hot tea “unreasonably hot.” – New York Daily News

6. North Carolina The Old North State Rank: 3

7. Florida The Slip-and-Fall State Rank: 48 “Florida’s litigation climate can be attributed in large part to its notorious reputation for exorbitant jury awards and frivolous slip-and-fall lawsuits.” – Institute for Legal Reform

8. South Dakota The Mount Rushmore State Rank: 4

9. Illinois The Bar-Dancing Suit State Rank: 47 A woman from Joliet, IL sued a tavern after toppling off the bar she was dancing on, claiming the tavern should have provided a stool for her to get down from. –Travis Akin, Illinois Lawsuit Abuse Watch

10. North Dakota The Peace Garden State Rank: 5

11. Pennsylvania The Burglar’s “Mental Anguish” State Rank: 46 Terrence Dickson of Bristol, PA, was given a $500,000 award after he was inadvertently trapped in the garage of a house that he was burglarizing. – USA Today

12. Maine The Pine Tree State Rank: 6

13. Missouri The Neurosurgeons’ Nightmare State Rank: 45 In 2003 the eastern half of Jackson County, MO, lost its only neurosurgeons in 2003 due to such high malpractice insurance costs.– Wall Street Journal

14. Idaho The Gem State Rank: 7

15. Montana The Louisville Slugger Warning Label State Rank: 44 A Montana jury awarded $850,000 when Louisville Slugger did not include a warning to users about the dangers of using aluminum bats.– CNN NewsRoom

16. Virginia The Old Dominion State Rank: 8

17. Michigan The Never Leave a Passenger on the Plane State Rank: 44 Michigan woman seeking up to $75,000 in a suit after being left on an landed airline for emotional distress and false imprisonment. – CNN.com

18. Wisconsin The Badger State Rank: 9

19. Connecticut The “Cyclists Shouldn’t Have to Pay Attention” State Rank: 43 A non-profit municipal corporation looked at shutting access to its popular reservoir trails to cyclists following a $2.9 million jury award to a bicyclist who crashed into a gate. – Overlawyerd.com

20. Iowa The Hawkeye State Rank: 10

21. California The Asbestos Attorney’s Dream State Rank: 42 “Some of the biggest asbestos firms in the Lone Star state are now heading west to open offices in California where the future of asbestos litigation is looking sunny.” – Marilyn Tennissen, Southeast Texas Record ,

22. Fin This report uses comprehensive, hard data on all 50 states to assess separately the outputs and inputs of each state’s tort system and rank the states accordingly. To download your own copy visit www.pacificresearch.org