| Sumario: | Madison County, Illinois, has become a thriving center for the lawsuit industry. Edwardsville's civil courts are growing so rapidly that the entire criminal court system is moving to another building in order to provide more space for non-criminal trials. Law firms are expanding to occupy former banks, one-time oil company headquarters, and other facilities of the old economy. The county has a long history of lawsuit activity. By 1915, 80 percent of the nation's railroad claims were being resolved in Madison County, as claims could be filed in any jurisdiction where the railroad operated and Edwardsville judges had a reputation for being particularly favorable to such appeals. In 2003, Judge Nicholas Byron proclaimed his willingness to hear cases from anywhere, and at that time he was presiding over 25 percent of the country's cases relating to mesothelioma, the deadliest form of asbestos lung disease.
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