Illinois Citizens Against Lawsuit Abuse

Illinois CALA Executive Director Phil Melin presented to the Associated Builders and Contractors, Inc. - Illinois Chapter on a critical issue for employers, contractors, and job creators across our state: lawsuit abuse reform.

Phil spoke about why business leaders can't sit on the sidelines while Illinois' legal climate grows more hostile. Excessive litigation raises costs, creates uncertainty, drives up insurance pressure, and makes it harder for employers to invest, hire, and compete.

He also discussed how businesses can better protect themselves in the hostile legal climate created by the Illinois legislature, where too many policies expose employers to unnecessary risk and reward abusive litigation strategies.

A fair civil justice system should hold wrongdoers accountable. It shouldn't punish job creators, raise costs for taxpayers, or turn litigation into a routine cost of doing business in Illinois.

Illinois business leaders have a voice. Now is the time to use it.

Stay engaged, educate your networks, and advocate for common-sense civil justice reform that restores fairness, accountability, and economic confidence in Illinois.

Tomorrow IL CALA Executive Director Phil Melin presents to the Associated Builders and Contractors, Inc. - Illinois Chapter on how lawsuit abuse is raising costs for Illinois families, employers, and the contractors who build our communities.

Abusive litigation doesn't just hit courtrooms. It hits job sites, insurance bills, and the bottom lines of the businesses that keep Illinois working.

We'll have a full recap tomorrow. Stay tuned.

During Small Business Week, we celebrate the entrepreneurs who power Illinois’ economy. They are the restaurant owners, contractors, retailers, and service providers who take risks, create jobs, and invest in their communities.

But recognition alone isn’t enough.

Small businesses across Illinois and in Algonquin are operating in an increasingly difficult legal environment, where lawsuit abuse drives up costs and creates uncertainty.

https://patch.com/illinois/algonquin/small-business-week-should-also-mean-protecting-small-businesses-nodx

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In celebration of Black History Month, we are mobilizing business owners across Illinois to build real economic power.

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⏳ Member Offer Ends at Midnight – February 28th.

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Thank you Crain's Chicago Business for publishing my op-ed with NFIB Illinois Executive Director Noah Finley calling attention to the troubling trend in Illinois of allowing so-called "interested parties" to bring lawsuits against Illinois employers. "When private actors are empowered to sue employers absent injury and without delegation, the result is uneven, selective, and often punitive in ways that help predatory attorneys more than workers."

Opinion: The privatization and monetization of law enforcement hurts small business Illinois lawmakers have been experimenting with a troubling idea. They are quietly turning law enforcement over to private actors.Recently adopted laws empower private actors, defined as “interested part[ies],” to sue employers for alleged statutory “violations.” Under these new provisions, ...

It's important to stop and celebrate successes in out fights against lawsuit abuse. A couple years ago, IL CALA worked with a coalition of partners including the Technology & Manufacturing Association to fight the rampant abuses of the infamous BIPA law. Today, we are seeing dramatic reductions in spurious BIPA actions. Lot's of work left to do, but it's nice to see some progress.

Illinois’ Biometric Law Update leads to Dramatic Drop in Lawsuit Filings - TMA News SCHAUMBURG - Small and midsize manufacturers in Illinois have paid hefty lawsuit settlements in the past few years, concerning how they gather employee information, particularly with biometric systems, such as fingerprinting and retina scanning.

BIPA lawsuits down 185% in 2025 after Lawsuit Abuse reforms enacted in 2024, according to a 2026 Class Action Report published by Duane Morris LLP.

Good faith advocacy, common sense and the need to reform a horrifically bad piece of legislation actually worked in Illinois! The long fight continues! Read the full Report:https://cdn.prod.website-files.com/6392041b1e5410ee3fb63644/695cab1b3500c3555e554c75_Duane%20Morris%20Class%20Action%20Review%20–%202026%20-%20Executive%20Summary.pdf

American Tort Reform Association President Tiger Joyce explains why Illinois lands 7th on this year's Judicial Hellholes list.

Illinois counties land at No. 7 for ‘Judicial Hellholes,’ costs $1,900 per resident (The Center Square) – The St. Louis metro area and Cook County are again among the worst Judicial Hellhole jurisdictions, according to the American Tort Reform Foundation.

Cook, Madison and St Clair Counties in Illinois make the inglorious list being Judicial Hellholes according to the American Tort Foundation. Illinois has so much promise, but our legislature has to do better it we are to compete with our neighboring states for jobs and prosperity.

#7 Cook, Madison & St. Clair Counties, Illinois - Judicial Hellholes This year, St. Clair and Madison Counties rejoin Cook County on the Judicial Hellholes® list. This trio of Illinois counties’

At CALA, we are thankful we were able to reform of BIPA in Illinois. What a horrific reign of terror greedy trail lawyers perpetrated on good-faith small businesses across Illinois.