Market data
Mass torts in Illinois: market data
What public records say about the market for mass torts in Illinois: how much demand the courts and agencies count, how many law offices serve it, how many people need help in Spanish, and the ad rules that apply. Every number links to the record it comes from.
Demand: what courts and agencies count
Counts of filings, crashes, complaints and enforcement in the records each agency keeps. A count shows where problems were recorded, not how many people will hire a lawyer.
| Measure | Value | Period | Place | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Federal civil cases filed by county of the plaintiff: cases in a multidistrict litigation | 1,651 cases filed, fiscal year | FY2025 | Illinois state | federal-filings-county v1.0.0 doi:10.5281/zenodo.23750628 record federal-filings-county:IL · status P · checked 2026-10-28 |
| Federal civil cases filed by county of the plaintiff: product liability | 4,409 cases filed, fiscal year | FY2025 | Illinois state | federal-filings-county v1.0.0 doi:10.5281/zenodo.23750628 record federal-filings-county:IL · status P · checked 2026-10-28 |
| Federal civil filings: private other personal injury (includes product liability, drug and device cases) | 51 cases filed, 12 months | 12 months ending 2026-06-30 | Central District of Illinois federal district | civil-filings v1.0.0 doi:10.5281/zenodo.23720009 record cf-ilc-priv-other-pi · status P · checked 2026-10-27 |
| Federal civil cases filed: cases in a multidistrict litigation (mdl) | 7 cases filed, three fiscal years | FY2023-2025 | Central District of Illinois federal district | idb-civil v1.0.0 doi:10.5281/zenodo.23739969 record idb-ilc-mdl · status P · checked 2026-10-27 |
| Federal civil cases filed: product liability and mass tort | 18 cases filed, three fiscal years | FY2023-2025 | Central District of Illinois federal district | idb-civil v1.0.0 doi:10.5281/zenodo.23739969 record idb-ilc-product-liability · status P · checked 2026-10-27 |
| Federal civil filings: private other personal injury (includes product liability, drug and device cases) | 4,004 cases filed, 12 months | 12 months ending 2026-06-30 | Northern District of Illinois federal district | civil-filings v1.0.0 doi:10.5281/zenodo.23720009 record cf-iln-priv-other-pi · status P · checked 2026-10-27 |
| Federal civil cases filed: cases in a multidistrict litigation (mdl) | 11,552 cases filed, three fiscal years | FY2023-2025 | Northern District of Illinois federal district | idb-civil v1.0.0 doi:10.5281/zenodo.23739969 record idb-iln-mdl · status P · checked 2026-10-27 |
| Federal civil cases filed: product liability and mass tort | 4,652 cases filed, three fiscal years | FY2023-2025 | Northern District of Illinois federal district | idb-civil v1.0.0 doi:10.5281/zenodo.23739969 record idb-iln-product-liability · status P · checked 2026-10-27 |
| Federal civil filings: private other personal injury (includes product liability, drug and device cases) | 617 cases filed, 12 months | 12 months ending 2026-06-30 | Southern District of Illinois federal district | civil-filings v1.0.0 doi:10.5281/zenodo.23720009 record cf-ils-priv-other-pi · status P · checked 2026-10-27 |
| Federal civil cases filed: cases in a multidistrict litigation (mdl) | 15 cases filed, three fiscal years | FY2023-2025 | Southern District of Illinois federal district | idb-civil v1.0.0 doi:10.5281/zenodo.23739969 record idb-ils-mdl · status P · checked 2026-10-27 |
| Federal civil cases filed: product liability and mass tort | 6,151 cases filed, three fiscal years | FY2023-2025 | Southern District of Illinois federal district | idb-civil v1.0.0 doi:10.5281/zenodo.23739969 record idb-ils-product-liability · status P · checked 2026-10-27 |
| Pending actions in MDL 2570: Cook Medical, Inc., IVC Filters Marketing, Sales Practices and Products Liability… | 6,470 pending actions | as of 2026-10-01 | United States United States | mdl v1.1.0 doi:10.5281/zenodo.23720737 record mdl-2570 · status P · checked 2026-10-25 |
| Pending actions in MDL 2666: Bair Hugger Forced Air Warming Devices Products Liability Litigation | 8,424 pending actions | as of 2026-10-01 | United States United States | mdl v1.1.0 doi:10.5281/zenodo.23720737 record mdl-2666 · status P · checked 2026-10-25 |
| Pending actions in MDL 2738: Johnson & Johnson Talcum Powder Products Marketing, Sales Practices and Products… | 69,340 pending actions | as of 2026-10-01 | United States United States | mdl v1.1.0 doi:10.5281/zenodo.23720737 record mdl-2738 · status P · checked 2026-10-25 |
| Pending actions in MDL 2789: Proton-Pump Inhibitor Products Liability Litigation (No. II) | 11,404 pending actions | as of 2026-10-01 | United States United States | mdl v1.1.0 doi:10.5281/zenodo.23720737 record mdl-2789 · status P · checked 2026-10-25 |
| Pending actions in MDL 2846: Davol, Inc./C.R. Bard, Inc., Polypropylene Hernia Mesh Products Liability Litigation | 23,324 pending actions | as of 2026-10-01 | United States United States | mdl v1.1.0 doi:10.5281/zenodo.23720737 record mdl-2846 · status P · checked 2026-10-25 |
| Pending actions in MDL 2873: Aqueous Film-Forming Foams Products Liability Litigation | 15,264 pending actions | as of 2026-10-01 | United States United States | mdl v1.1.0 doi:10.5281/zenodo.23720737 record mdl-2873 · status P · checked 2026-10-25 |
| Pending actions in MDL 2974: Paragard IUD Products Liability Litigation | 4,224 pending actions | as of 2026-10-01 | United States United States | mdl v1.1.0 doi:10.5281/zenodo.23720737 record mdl-2974 · status P · checked 2026-10-25 |
| Pending actions in MDL 3004: Paraquat Products Liability Litigation | 6,602 pending actions | as of 2026-10-01 | United States United States | mdl v1.1.0 doi:10.5281/zenodo.23720737 record mdl-3004 · status P · checked 2026-10-25 |
| Pending actions in MDL 3060: Hair Relaxer Marketing, Sales Practices, and Products Liability Litigation | 12,381 pending actions | as of 2026-10-01 | United States United States | mdl v1.1.0 doi:10.5281/zenodo.23720737 record mdl-3060 · status P · checked 2026-10-25 |
| Pending actions in MDL 3081: Bard Implanted Port Catheter Products Liability Litigation | 4,140 pending actions | as of 2026-10-01 | United States United States | mdl v1.1.0 doi:10.5281/zenodo.23720737 record mdl-3081 · status P · checked 2026-10-25 |
| Pending actions in MDL 3094: Glucagon-like Peptide-1 Receptor Agonists (GLP-1 RAs) Products Liability Litigation | 4,025 pending actions | as of 2026-10-01 | United States United States | mdl v1.1.0 doi:10.5281/zenodo.23720737 record mdl-3094 · status P · checked 2026-10-25 |
| Pending actions in MDL 3140: Depo-Provera (Depot Medroxyprogesterone Acetate) Products Liability Litigation | 6,412 pending actions | as of 2026-10-01 | United States United States | mdl v1.1.0 doi:10.5281/zenodo.23720737 record mdl-3140 · status P · checked 2026-10-25 |
Rising or falling
The change between the last two periods each source publishes. No threshold and no smoothing.
| Measure | Before | Latest | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Federal civil cases filed by county of the plaintiff: cases in a multidistrict litigation Illinois · record federal-filings-county:IL | 1,884 FY2024 | 1,651 FY2025 | falling (-12.4%) |
| Federal civil cases filed by county of the plaintiff: product liability Illinois · record federal-filings-county:IL | 3,009 FY2024 | 4,409 FY2025 | rising (+46.5%) |
Lawyer supply
How many law offices and lawyers the federal statistics count here.
| Measure | Value | Period | Place | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| New lawyers admitted | 3,223 lawyers a year | 2025 | Illinois state | bar-pipeline v1.0.0 doi:10.5281/zenodo.23721443 record il-bar-pipeline · status P · checked 2026-10-28 |
| Counties under 1 law office per 10,000 residents | 13 counties | 2026-Q1 | Illinois state | deserts v1.0.0 doi:10.5281/zenodo.23721430 record deserts-17 · status P · checked 2026-10-28 |
| Counties with no law office | 6 counties | 2026-Q1 | Illinois state | deserts v1.0.0 doi:10.5281/zenodo.23721430 record deserts-17 · status P · checked 2026-10-28 |
| Residents living in those low-office counties | 1.6 percent of residents | 2026-Q1 | Illinois state | deserts v1.0.0 doi:10.5281/zenodo.23721430 record deserts-17 · status P · checked 2026-10-28 |
| Employer law firms | 6,887 firms | 2022 | Illinois state | law-firm-economy v1.0.0 doi:10.5281/zenodo.23739997 record lfe-il-all · status P · checked 2026-10-28 |
| Receipts of employer law firms | 21,410,276,000 US dollars | 2022 | Illinois state | law-firm-economy v1.0.0 doi:10.5281/zenodo.23739997 record lfe-il-all · status P · checked 2026-10-28 |
| Law offices per 10,000 residents | 5.84 per 10,000 residents | 2026-Q1 | Illinois state | law-offices v1.0.0 doi:10.5281/zenodo.23721415 record law-offices-17 · status P · checked 2026-10-28 |
| Self-employed lawyers (nonemployer firms) | 10,617 firms | latest Nonemployer Statistics year | Illinois state | law-offices v1.0.0 doi:10.5281/zenodo.23721415 record law-offices-17 · status P · checked 2026-10-28 |
| Private law offices | 7,427 establishments | 2026-Q1 | Illinois state | law-offices v1.0.0 doi:10.5281/zenodo.23721415 record law-offices-17 · status P · checked 2026-10-28 |
| Lawyers employed (wage-earning, BLS OEWS) | 33,590 jobs | May 2025 | Illinois state | lawyer-wages v1.0.0 doi:10.5281/zenodo.23734840 record lawyer-wages:IL:231011:2025 · status P · checked 2026-10-28 |
| Median annual wage of employed lawyers | 160,800 US dollars a year | May 2025 | Illinois state | lawyer-wages v1.0.0 doi:10.5281/zenodo.23734840 record lawyer-wages:IL:231011:2025 · status P · checked 2026-10-28 |
Counties with the most demand per law office
Of the 25 counties in Illinois with the most federal civil cases filed by county of the plaintiff: cases in a multidistrict litigation, the ten with the most per private law office. Both counts are shown with their records.
| County | Demand | Law offices | Per office |
|---|---|---|---|
| Douglas County, IL | 1 record federal-filings-county:17041 | 1 record law-offices-17041 | 1 |
| Richland County, IL | 1 record federal-filings-county:17159 | 2 record law-offices-17159 | 0.5 |
| Clark County, IL | 1 record federal-filings-county:17023 | 4 record law-offices-17023 | 0.25 |
| Shelby County, IL | 1 record federal-filings-county:17173 | 4 record law-offices-17173 | 0.25 |
| Wayne County, IL | 1 record federal-filings-county:17191 | 4 record law-offices-17191 | 0.25 |
| Bureau County, IL | 1 record federal-filings-county:17011 | 5 record law-offices-17011 | 0.2 |
| Marion County, IL | 1 record federal-filings-county:17121 | 11 record law-offices-17121 | 0.09 |
| Monroe County, IL | 1 record federal-filings-county:17133 | 12 record law-offices-17133 | 0.08 |
| Jefferson County, IL | 1 record federal-filings-county:17081 | 14 record law-offices-17081 | 0.07 |
| Cook County, IL | 217 record federal-filings-county:17031 | 3,899 record law-offices-17031 | 0.06 |
Federal civil cases filed by county of the plaintiff: cases in a multidistrict litigation (federal-filings-county v1.0.0, FY2025) ÷ Private law offices (law-offices v1.0.0, 2026-Q1). ratio = federal-filings-county.ffc.mdl / law-offices.qcew_estabs, rounded to 2 decimals; ranked highest first, among the 25 units with the most demand. Units with zero supply are listed apart (ratio undefined); units without a published value are listed as missing.
Spanish-language demand
People who speak Spanish and speak English less than very well, and the lawyers who speak Spanish, from the Census Bureau survey (with margins of error).
| Measure | Value | Period | Place | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lawyers who speak Spanish at home (ACS) | 2,478 ±580 lawyers | 2020-2024 | Illinois state | language v1.1.0 doi:10.5281/zenodo.23656758 record language:state:IL:lawyers-spanish · status P · checked 2026-10-25 |
| Spanish speakers with limited English per Spanish-speaking lawyer | 266 ±62.3 people per lawyer | 2020-2024 | Illinois state | language v1.1.0 doi:10.5281/zenodo.23656758 record language:state:IL:lep-per-spanish-lawyer · status P · checked 2026-10-25 |
| Spanish speakers with limited English (ACS) | 659,015 ±6,452 people age 5+ | 2020-2024 | Illinois state | language v1.1.0 doi:10.5281/zenodo.23656758 record language:state:IL:spanish-lep · status P · checked 2026-10-25 |
| Spanish speakers with limited English | 659,015 ±7,481 people age 5+ | 2020-2024 | Illinois state | legal-need v1.0.0 doi:10.5281/zenodo.23741886 record legal-need-il · status P · checked 2026-10-28 |
Ad rules that apply
The rules a law firm's ads in Illinois have to meet, summarized from the official texts. The full rules, with quotes, are on the state page.
| Topic | Status | What it says |
|---|---|---|
| Ad filing or review | P primary source | No filing or pre-approval of ads is required by Rules 7.1-7.5. A lawyer who uses an intermediary connecting service (a directory, lead generator or matching service) must do due diligence before joining and while taking part (7.2(c)); comment [8] says initial… official source · rules v1.4.0 doi:10.5281/zenodo.23750572 · checked 2026-10-28 |
| Required content | P primary source | Every ad must include the name and office address of at least one lawyer or law firm responsible for its content (7.2(a)). A targeted written, recorded or electronic solicitation must carry the words 'advertising material' on the outside envelope and at the… official source · rules v1.4.0 doi:10.5281/zenodo.23750572 · checked 2026-10-28 |
| Waiting periods for contact | P primary source | The rules set no waiting period after an accident or injury. In-person, live telephone and real-time electronic solicitation for pay is banned with exceptions (7.3(a)). official source · rules v1.4.0 doi:10.5281/zenodo.23750572 · checked 2026-10-28 |
| Claims and results | P primary source | A lawyer may not make a false or misleading communication (7.1). The Illinois Supreme Court does not recognize certifications of specialties (7.4(b)). official source · rules v1.4.0 doi:10.5281/zenodo.23750572 · checked 2026-10-28 |
| Paying for referrals | P primary source | A lawyer may not give anything of value for recommending the lawyer's services, except ad costs, a practice sale, and non-exclusive reciprocal referral agreements where the client is told (7.2(b)). official source · rules v1.4.0 doi:10.5281/zenodo.23750572 · checked 2026-10-28 |
| Call recording | P primary source | Illinois makes it eavesdropping to record a private conversation, including one's own, in a surreptitious manner unless all other parties to the conversation consent. official source · rules v1.4.0 doi:10.5281/zenodo.23750572 · checked 2026-10-28 |
| Texting | P primary source | Illinois' Automatic Telephone Dialers Act bars playing a prerecorded message placed by an autodialer without the called party's consent. official source · rules v1.4.0 doi:10.5281/zenodo.23750572 · checked 2026-10-28 |
| Drug and device injury ads (state statute) | D default rule | [object Object] |
| Ad filing or review | P primary source | Illinois: no filing or review of lawyer ads is required. official source · filing v1.2.0 doi:10.5281/zenodo.23721409 · checked 2026-10-25 |
| Paying for referrals | P primary source | Lawyers in different firms may split a fee in proportion to the services each performs, or, if one lawyer's main service is referring the client, if each lawyer assumes joint financial responsibility; the total fee must be reasonable. official source · referral v1.1.0 doi:10.5281/zenodo.23747113 · checked 2026-10-27 |
| Limitation period | P primary source | Illinois, personal injury: 2 years, under 735 ILCS 5/13-202, as read in the official code on 2026-10-28. official source · limitations v1.1.0 doi:10.5281/zenodo.23743673 · checked 2026-10-28 |
| Limitation period | P primary source | Illinois, product liability: 2 years, under 735 ILCS 5/13-213(b), (d), as read in the official code on 2026-10-28. official source · limitations v1.1.0 doi:10.5281/zenodo.23743673 · checked 2026-10-28 |
Prices and pay (national)
| Measure | Value | Period | Place | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jobs in legal services (seasonally adjusted) | 1,249 thousand jobs | 2026-09 | United States United States | legal-prices v1.0.0 doi:10.5281/zenodo.23734854 record legal-prices:CES6054110001:2026-09 · status P · checked 2026-10-28 |
| CPI-U: legal services | 230 index | 2026-09 | United States United States | legal-prices v1.0.0 doi:10.5281/zenodo.23734854 record legal-prices:CUUR0000SEGC01:2026-09 · status P · checked 2026-10-28 |
| PPI: offices of lawyers | 338 index | 2026-09 | United States United States | legal-prices v1.0.0 doi:10.5281/zenodo.23734854 record legal-prices:PCU541110541110:2026-09 · status P · checked 2026-10-28 |
| PPI: civil negligence legal services | 257 index | 2026-09 | United States United States | legal-prices v1.0.0 doi:10.5281/zenodo.23734854 record legal-prices:PCU5411105411103:2026-09 · status P · checked 2026-10-28 |
What is missing
Datasets linked to this practice that have no figure here, and values the source withholds. We never fill these in.
- findings (demand): the dataset has no records for Illinois (it covers other places)
- firm-web-census (supply): the dataset has no records for Illinois (it covers other places)
Download and cite
The rows behind this page, with every dataset, version, DOI, record id and check date.
Cite as: Probative Growth, The new-lawyer pipeline by jurisdiction: bar exam pass rates and new admissions, 2025 v1.0.0 (doi:10.5281/zenodo.23721443); Federal civil filings by nature of suit and district, 12-month periods since 2018 v1.0.0 (doi:10.5281/zenodo.23720009); Legal deserts: law offices and lawyers per resident in every U.S. county v1.0.0 (doi:10.5281/zenodo.23721430); Federal civil cases filed, by county of the plaintiff's residence, case type and year (Federal Judicial Center) v1.0.0 (doi:10.5281/zenodo.23750628); How long federal civil cases take: outcomes, class actions and pro se share by district, nature of suit and year v1.0.0 (doi:10.5281/zenodo.23739969); Spanish-speaking demand vs Spanish-speaking lawyer supply, by state and metro v1.1.0 (doi:10.5281/zenodo.23656758); Law firm size, solos and receipts, by state: Census SUSB 2022, Nonemployer Statistics 2024 and Economic Census 2022 v1.0.0 (doi:10.5281/zenodo.23739997); Law offices, jobs and pay by county, with solo-practice counts: BLS QCEW, Census CBP and Nonemployer Statistics v1.0.0 (doi:10.5281/zenodo.23721415); Lawyer, paralegal and legal-staff pay by state and metro (BLS OEWS) v1.0.0 (doi:10.5281/zenodo.23734840); Legal need by county: who may need a lawyer, from the American Community Survey v1.0.0 (doi:10.5281/zenodo.23741886); Legal-services prices and jobs, monthly (BLS CPI, PPI and CES) v1.0.0 (doi:10.5281/zenodo.23734854); Mass-tort docket tracker, federal MDL pending actions by month since 2019 v1.1.0 (doi:10.5281/zenodo.23720737); CC BY 4.0. https://probativegrowth.com/markets/illinois/mass-tort/
Use it in your AI tool
The same answers come from our free MCP server for AI assistants (no account): https://probativegrowth.com/mcp/markets
How this page is built
Each figure is copied from one record of the dataset named with it, joined to this state and practice through the open practice and place crosswalk. Nothing is estimated. Methods, inputs and limits.