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The Takeaway

While many products typically associated with asbestos exposure are no longer sold, HeplerBroom’s asbestos defense attorneys do not expect asbestos litigation in the U.S. to slow any time soon. Why?

1. About 300 cases of mesothelioma are diagnosed every year.^[1]
2. Asbestos-related lung cancer and talcum powder claims are increasing.
3. Nuclear verdicts in personal injury cases in Illinois’ state courts have increased.
4. Contrary to past experience, plaintiffs’ firms now frequently refile cases after defendants have been voluntarily dismissed after asserting a personal jurisdiction defense.

Introduction

Multiple Illinois jurisdictions have long been host to an unparalleled volume of asbestos litigation within the United States, and that trend has continued in 2024 and 2025.

Madison and St. Clair Counties continue to see a uniquely large number of asbestos lawsuits filed each year, while Cook County has earned a reputation as a jurisdiction prone to nuclear verdicts in personal injury cases. Among these three venues, 1,878 asbestos lawsuits were filed in 2024, an 8% increase from 2023.^[2] This comprises almost half of all new asbestos lawsuits filed in the U.S.^[3] And in 2024, 236 talc claims were filed in Madison County and 47 in St. Clair County, accounting for 38% of all talc claims filed nationally.^[4]

Madison County

Madison County continues to be the top venue for asbestos lawsuits in the United States. In 2024, the County saw a nation-high 882 asbestos lawsuits filed.^[5] This actually represents a slight decline in annual filings. This decline, however, was not necessarily attributable to a decrease in asbestos lawsuits nationally; aggregate asbestos filings across the U.S. have maintained a steady rate since the COVID-19 pandemic.^[6]

In September 2024, former Judge Stephen Stobbs and Judge Andrew Carruthers, who currently oversees the Madison County asbestos docket, amended some provisions of the Madison County Standing Order. While these amendments have by no means overhauled the practice of litigating asbestos cases in the County, they have removed some of the obstacles plaintiffs’ firms faced when filing cases and setting them for trial. These amendments include allowing an:

• unlimited number of annual trial settings plaintiffs’ firms can set (previously limited to 780)
• unlimited number of plaintiffs’ firms that can be set for each trial docket (previously limited to 2)
• unlimited number of priority cases set for trial on each docket (previously limited to 19), and
• easier path for plaintiffs’ attorneys to obtain an expedited trial setting in Madison County and further accelerate the process in which settlements may be reached^[7]

(Click here to access the publicly available, red-lined version of the new Standing Case Management Order governing Madison County asbestos cases.)

While it’s still unclear if these amendments will have any impact on the number of cases filed each year in Madison County, HeplerBroom’s asbestos attorneys expect this jurisdiction to remain a hotbed for asbestos litigation for the foreseeable future.

St. Clair County

While Madison County remains the top U.S. venue for asbestos filings, St. Clair County is not far behind. The 820 asbestos lawsuits filed there in 2024 represented a 22% increase from 2023.^[8]

St. Clair County remains the predominant location for asbestos-related lung cancer filings, which totaled 762 in 2024.^[9] A majority of these cases were filed by either The Gori Law Firm or SWMW Law. While Madison County sustained its position as the asbestos lawsuit capital of the United States, there’s a real possibility that St. Clair County will hold that title this time next year, especially as more firms use St. Clair County as the landing spot for their lung cancer cases.

Unlike Madison County, St. Clair County uses no standard case management order to administer its asbestos docket. Instead, each case receives its own Case Management Order that provides date-specific deadlines leading up to a trial date. Cases are often continued from docket to docket at plaintiff’s request.

Cook County

Cook County continues to also be one of the busiest asbestos dockets in the country as well. It ranked fifth nationally in number of asbestos lawsuits filed in 2024, with 176 filings.^[10] This was a 13.5% increase from 2023 and a 58.5% increase from 2022.^[11] The American Tort Reform Foundation’s 2024/2025 Judicial Hellholes report ranks Cook County as the sixth largest Judicial Hellhole, down from its number two ranking in 2023.^[12]

A recent U.S. Chamber of Commerce Institute for Legal Reform report that analyzed nuclear verdicts between 2013 and 2022 ranked Illinois fifth nationwide.[13] The study identified 64 nuclear verdicts, noting that all but a handful of those in Illinois state courts came from Cook County’s Circuit Court.

Several 2024 asbestos verdicts added fuel to this fire.:

• In April 2024, a Cook County jury awarded $45 million to the Estate of Theresa Garcia. Garcia’s estate alleged that defendant Johnson & Johnson’s talcum powder was contaminated with asbestos, and her lifelong use of that powder caused her pleural mesothelioma.

In July 2024, a Cook County jury awarded Cipriano Ramirez and his family over $24 million, which included $1 million in punitive damages. The jury found that Avon Products Inc. negligently exposed the 66-year-old former janitor to asbestos-contaminated talc at its Morton Grove (Illinois) facility, which caused his pleural mesothelioma. Ramirez alleged he worked at the plant for approximately one year in the early 1980s.

[1] Mesothelioma Statistics (Last visited 4/29/25).

[2] St. Clair, Madison Counties Retain Top Spots for Asbestos Lawsuits in U.S., New Report (Last accessed 4/28/25)

[3] Id.

[4] St. Clair, Madison Counties Retain Top Spots for Asbestos Lawsuits in U.S., New Report

[5] Id.

[6] Id.

[7] Under the revised Standing Case Management Order, lung cancer plaintiffs who are at least 67 years old may obtain expedited trial dates (within one year of a hearing to expedite a case for trial). Plaintiffs with mesothelioma may also receive expedited settings (within six months of a hearing to expedite a case for trial). In the past, a diagnosis report corroborating a plaintiff’s short life expectancy was required in lung cancer cases before they could receive an expedited trial setting. That’s no longer the case.

[8] St. Clair, Madison Counties Retain Top Spots for Asbestos Lawsuits in U.S., New Report (Last accessed 4/28/25).

[9] Id.

[10] Id.

[11] Id.

[12] 2024-2025 Executive Summary - Judicial Hellholes

[13] Nuclear Verdicts: An Update on Trends, Causes, and Solutions (Last accessed 5/19/25).