Chicago City Wire

Business and lawsuit reform groups are urging Gov. JB Pritzker to veto Senate Bill 328, which would expand Illinois courts’ authority to hear cases involving out-of-state businesses, even if those businesses have no physical presence in the state.

“This bill doesn’t help Illinoisans,” Executive Director of Illinois Citizens Against Lawsuit Abuse (CALA) Phil Melin told Chicago City Wire. “It doesn’t even help people harmed in Illinois—they can already sue here. This bill is for out-of-state plaintiffs and the millionaire law firms that fund Springfield politicians.”

CALA estimates that lawsuit abuse already costs Illinois more than $24 billion annually and over 208,000 jobs. SB 328 will make the economic climate far worse by driving business out and squashing new investment.

The American Tort Reform Association's (ATRA) President Tiger Joyce said in a statement that SB 328 “is one of the single worst bills we have seen this year, nationwide.”

Joyce pointed out that only Pennsylvania allows lawsuits against businesses registered in the state but with no presence there. In December, ATRA named the Pennsylvania Supreme Court and the Philadelphia Court of Common Please as the worst “Judicial Hellholes” in the country.

Cook County came in sixth on their list of lawsuit happy jurisdictions, and Madison and St. Clair Counties also ranked high.

“This new influx of litigation likely will be filed in Illinois counties with 'Judicial Hellhole' reputations, like Cook County,” Joyce said, “which hosts 91% of the state’s high-value civil cases despite having only 40% of its population. Madison and St. Clair Counties also are notorious for attracting asbestos litigation, earning them 'Dishonorable Mentions.'”

In a letter to Pritzker, Joyce said that the bill would undermine the Pritzker administration’s “Open for Business” economic growth plan. The letter also points out the bill’s “extraordinarily broad” language, with its definition of “toxic” roping in everything from dangerous chemicals to lifesaving medications, food and baby formula.

Even the governor of plaintiff-friendly New York twice vetoed similar legislation.

“I vetoed substantially similar legislation in 2021 due to concerns that the proposal would represent a massive expansion of New York's laws governing general jurisdiction,” Gov. Kathy Hochul said in a statement, “likely deterring out-of-state companies from doing business in New York because it would require them to be subject to lawsuits in the state regardless of any connection to New York. The bill would cause uncertainty for those businesses and burden the judicial system.”

Trial lawyer money is driving the legislation, Melin said.

According to CALA, from 2022 through early 2025, the Illinois Trial Lawyers Association Political Action Committee contributed to only one side of the aisle, sending 100% of its contributions to Democrats in the General Assembly and statewide offices. The top beneficiaries were Illinois House Speaker Chris "Emanuel" Welch, D-Hillside, at $80,000, and Illinois Senate President Don Harmon, D-Oak Park, at $75,000, both sponsors of the bill.