For the sixth year in a row, a survey of corporate officials has ranked West Virginia's judicial system as the worst in the country.
The survey, released this week by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce's Institute for Legal Reform, placed West Virginia near the bottom in all 10 categories measured, including judicial competence and impartiality. The state ranked last in three categories: overall treatment of tort and contract litigation, discovery, and scientific and technical evidence.
This year's annual Lawsuit Climate Survey, which was based on interviews of more than 1,200 corporate lawyers and senior executives at companies with more than $100 million in revenue, was conducted from March 9 to June 24.
Paige Flanigan, president of the West Virginia Association for Justice trial lawyers group, criticized the survey.
"To survey only corporate defendants and their lawyers and release it as a legitimate analysis of a state's legal system is asinine," she said. "That's like surveying people at Milan Puskar Stadium about which team they want to win the game, refusing to ask anyone wearing blue and gold and then announcing that fans want the visiting team to win."
Flanigan said the survey is nothing more than propaganda, and academics have called such studies flawed.
It is unclear whether the results of the 2015 survey could have been affected by recent actions taken by the state lawmakers and the West Virginia Supreme Court.
During the 2015 session, the Republican-led Legislature passed several bills, which were later signed into law by Democratic Gov. Earl Ray Tomblin, in attempt to reshape the state's judicial climate.
In May, the state Supreme Court's announced a decision that allows drug addicts to sue doctors and pharmacies who fed their addiction - a decision that Steve Roberts, president of the West Virginia Chamber of Commerce, called a "show stopper."
"It is certainly typical of the kind of case that gets national attention," Roberts said. "And they're shaking their head and they're saying wow."
Roberts acknowledged that due to the sheer timing of both the Supreme Court's decision and the fact that several of the laws passed by the Legislature had yet to be enacted, the survey's respondents may not have been able to consider them.
But nonetheless, Roberts said it is going to take a while to change the business group's perception of West Virginia's legal climate.
"It takes a lifetime to develop a reputation," he said. "We're going to have to really work on telling people the Legislature has changed the laws."
Roberts said his organization is focusing on passing legislation that would establish an intermediary appellate court in West Virginia, which he believes would also improve the state's standings.
Other states to rank near the bottom in the 2015 survey were Louisiana, Illinois, California and Alabama.
Delaware was named the top state - a spot it has maintained every year since 2002. Other states ranked high in the 2015 survey include Vermont, Nebraska, Iowa and New Hampshire.
To see the Institute for Legal Reform's entire 50-state 2015 Lawsuit Climate Survey, visit http://www.institutefor legalreform.com/states
Reach Joel Ebert at 304-348-4843, joel.ebert@dailymailwv.com or follow @joelebert29 on Twitter.