Pottawatomie County Court Lands on “Judicial Hellholes” List

Dubious recognition comes following questionable decisions by judge

Oklahoma City (December 17, 2015) – After decisions that awarded millions in attorney’s fees for a class action suit with no Oklahoma plaintiffs and potentially overturned Oklahoma’s entire workers’ compensation system, Pottawatomie County District Court landed on this year’s Judicial Hellholes report from the American Tort Reform Association (ATRA). The report notes that the court is “developing an outsized reputation for plaintiffs’ friendly rulings.”

“It’s a black eye for Oklahoma to be on this list,” said State Chamber President & CEO Fred Morgan. “Businesses look at the legal climates of states when considering locations for expansion and Oklahoma too often comes in below surrounding states in rankings of our courts.”

The court’s sole judge, John G. Canavan, Jr., awarded attorney’s fees of more than $7-million in a national class action suit filed in his court despite having no Oklahoma plaintiffs. That decision was reversed by the Oklahoma Supreme Court a year ago and Judge Canavan reduced it to just over $1-million in attorney’s fees for a case where the 310 plaintiffs received a total of $45,000 ($145 for each plaintiff). Judge Canavan this year made a ruling in a workers’ compensation case which would have the effect of eliminating the entire system, forcing injured workers to go to court before receiving any payments for injuries.

“We said when Judge Canavan made his workers’ comp ruling that it appeared to be an illogical rationale that runs counter to both the old workers’ compensation laws of this state and the new administrative system,” said Morgan. “This is just another reason State Chamber members continually call for judicial reform in our legislative agenda.”

The full report can be found online by clicking here.