Madison and St. Clair counties have long been perceived to be among the most favorable venues in the country for plaintiffs and long been listed as “judicial hellholes” by the American Tort Reform Foundation. Whether that’s true or not, recent decisions from the Illinois Appellate Court, 5th District, have shown that defendants have the opportunity to escape these jurisdictions through forum non conveniens as has largely not been the case in the past.Beginning with Shaw v. Haas, 2019 IL App (5th) 180588 …