A national tort-reform group labeled Hampton County the third-worst "judicial hellhole" in the country Thursday, though one attorney in that county accused the group of being driven by special interests.

The American Tort Reform Association ranks U.S. courts annually by how friendly they are to personal-injury lawyers. If a court attracts lawsuits because it is perceived to produce positive outcomes or high-dollar verdicts, it receives a low ranking.

Occupying the top spots in this year's list were Illinois' Madison and St. Clair counties, each home to more than 250,000 people, while Hampton County's population is slightly more than 21,000.

The group attributes higher consumer costs, the so-called "tort tax," to these courts, as well as higher health-care costs. Characteristics of problem courts, according to the group, include the abuse of the legal process, certification of class-action lawsuits, the proliferation of junk science and the prevalence of venue shopping.

Through South Carolina's venue laws, plaintiffs in civil cases are allowed to file suit in any county where a company does business or owns property. Though the law applies to all the state's 46 counties, Hampton County juries have gained a national reputation for being plaintiff-friendly.

In 2002, 67 percent of the lawsuits filed in the mostly rural county were brought by plaintiffs living outside the county or even the state, according to a 2003 study by the Hampton County Economic Development Commission.

"It's blatant venue-shopping, what you see going on in Hampton County," said Will Folks, spokesman for Gov. Mark Sanford, a strong advocate of overhauling the state's existing tort law.

Sanford favors changing rules about where a plaintiff can bring a suit. Other proposals from the governor include capping jury awards, making each defendant liable for only the damages they caused, and allowing acts of negligence such as not wearing a seat belt to limit the amount of damages a plaintiff can collect.

The proposals are included in prefiled House and the Senate bills that state lawmakers will begin taking up in January.

Hampton County lawyer Johnny Parker called the American Tort Reform Association an industry group supported by Fortune 500 companies looking out for their own interests.

"The legislation they seek will hurt the average citizen and benefit major corporations that are guilty of wrongdoing," Parker said.

His firm, Peters, Murdaugh, Parker, Eltzroth & Detrick, has used the venue law to bring many out-of-county defendants before Hampton County juries. The firm frequently has faced CSX, a Florida-based rail company with tracks that run through Hampton County.

Parker said CSX was one of the forces advocating changes to tort law. But South Carolina juries typically have awarded verdicts that are much lower than the national average, Parker said, citing a yearly survey done by Jury Verdict Research. Hampton County juries, he said, have ranked below the state average.