The ads followed yesterday's release of the United States Chamber of Commerce Institute for Legal Reform's annual "State Liability Systems Ranking Study," which the Chamber said "found a wide gap between the best and worst states in legal fairness--a difference that underscores the need for both federal and state-based legal reform."

According to the Washington, D.C.-based Chamber's listing, Delaware has the best legal system and Mississippi, the worst.

The American Tort Reform Association, also in Washington, at the same time put out an announcement noting that the ten states identified by the Chamber as having the worst legal climates are home to ten counties or municipalities that ATRA identified as "Judicial Hellholes" in a report last fall. The report identified 13 trial court jurisdictions where ATRA said the law is consistently applied unfairly.

Thomas Donohue, U.S. Chamber president and chief executive officer said, "Madison County, Illinois [one of the counties on the ATRA list] is perhaps the worst offender. That's probably why Illinois has dropped ten spots to number 44 in the last two years."

Chamber Spokesperson Sean McBride said the $900,000 print ads campaign, which kicked off today will be followed by a second-wave advertising effort. The latest ads are appearing in the Wall Street Journal tomorrow and in newspapers in all states including Mississippi.

The ads proclaim that "companies are hesitant to do business in a state with a reputation for unfair court systems" and "Lost business means lost jobs."

The Chamber said this is the third year Mississippi has been ranked worst.

The group said rankings were based on The Institute for Legal Reform/Harris Interactive survey of more than 1,400 senior attorneys.

Mr. Donohue said, "Opportunistic trial lawyers are flocking to courts in a handful of out-of-the-way places that are stacked in favor of plaintiffs' attorneys and that have shown a willingness to dole out huge awards in frivolous cases."

He said there is a need for "federal legislative reforms for class actions, asbestos litigation and medical malpractice. And we need states like Mississippi, West Virginia and Illinois to enact legislation that will restore fairness and balance to their civil litigation systems."

The full Chamber study is online at www.legalreformnow.com.

ATRA noted that last week, the Mississippi House of Representatives passed an internal parliamentary rule change that it imposed on itself in order to keep a legal reform measure bill bottled up in the House Judiciary "A" Committee, which is chaired by a personal injury lawyer.