The Illinois Supreme Court has published its docket book for the March term, and the Court’s docket call will be heavy on civil matters this month in Springfield. 

On March 10, the Court will hear argument in Founders Insurance Co. v. Munoz, which involves the entitlement exclusion in personal automobile insurance policies, and Speed District 802 v. Warning, which involves an unfair labor practices charge arising out of the termination of a teacher’s contract.  The next day, the Court hears Pekin Insurance Co. v. Wilson, which presents issues of the scope of evidence relevant to an insurer’s duty to defend, Krywin v. Chicago Transit Authority, which relates a common carrier’s potential duty to clear away natural accumulations of snow and ice, and Clerk v. The Children’s Memorial Hospital, which involves the scope of Illinois’ cause of action for wrongful birth.

On March 16, the Court will hear argument in Baumgartner v. Baumgartner.  There, the principal issue is whether incarceration is an act of self-emancipation terminating the support obligation in a divorce decree.  The Court will also hear K. Miller Construction Co. v. McGinnis, which involves the construction of the Home Repair and Remodeling Act.  Finally, on March 17, the Court hears Cwik v. Giannoulias, a putative class action alleging that the state’s practice of not paying over interest or income earned by reclaimed property while in the state’s custody is an unconstitutional taking of property without compensation.

Decisions in each of these cases should come later in the year.