Our preview of the September term of the Illinois Supreme Court continues with In re Estate of Boyar [pdf]. So you’ve decided there was something not quite right about a parent’s will. Can you take the money and then file a will challenge? The answer nearly everywhere is thoroughly settled: No. But what if Dad had a … Continue Reading
Our preview of the September term of the Illinois Supreme Court continues with Toftoy v. Rosenwinkel [pdf]. We all learned about it in law school, and few of us have probably thought of the phrase since: “coming to a nuisance.” The notion is basically this: if you’re the last to move in, you’re stuck with your … Continue Reading
Our preview of the September term of the Illinois Supreme Court continues with In re Marriage of Mathis [pdf]. Often in divorce proceedings there is a need to bifurcate: to enter a judgment of dissolution before the property settlement. But on the other hand, after the dissolution — the literal divorce — has been entered, often … Continue Reading
Our preview of the September term of the Illinois Supreme Court continues with EMC Mortgage Corp. v. Kemp [pdf]. Kemp involves a tangled procedural history, but ultimately, a reasonably simple question: when can you appeal from an order for the foreclosure sale of a home? Plaintiff filed its foreclosure complaint in the summer of 2006. The … Continue Reading
Our preview of the September term of the Illinois Supreme Court continues with Carr v. Koch [pdf]. Plaintiffs have challenged states’ school financing systems on constitutional grounds for nearly two generations now. The state Supreme Courts of Montana, New Jersey, Kentucky and Texas all struck down their state systems, while other challenges failed, such as San Antonio School … Continue Reading
Our preview of the September term of the Illinois Supreme Court continues with Cooney v. Rossiter [pdf]. Cooney occurs at the intersection of res judicata and class action work: if a putative class action goes down in flames on the merits before class certification, is the putative class representative’s individual claim barred too? Plaintiff Deborah … Continue Reading
Our preview of the September term continues with Center Partners, Ltd. v. Growth Head GP, LLC [pdf]. Center Partners involves a dispute over the purchase of a property company. Defendants – a maze of corporations, partnerships and trusts we’ll call Westfield, Rouse and Simon – negotiated the purchase of the assets of Rodamco North America. Rodamco owned … Continue Reading
Late last month, the California Supreme Court raised the stakes for defense counsel negotiating settlements in multiple defendant cases, abolishing the common-law “release rule” in Leung v. Verdugo Hills Hospital [pdf]. Leung has gotten a good bit of attention in the news and the blogs, including stories in The Wall Street Journal, Findlaw, Plaintiff Magazine [pdf] … Continue Reading
Yesterday, the Illinois Supreme Court posted its docket for the upcoming September term [pdf]. Today, we begin a series of previews of civil cases scheduled to be argued this term, starting with the first civil argument on the docket: Hernandez v. Bernstein. In 2005, the plaintiffs sued the defendants, his former attorneys, alleging that they negligently … Continue Reading
Usually, a negligent misrepresentation case from the Minnesota Supreme Court would fall a bit outside my usual purview for blogging. But as a lifelong Kentucky basketball fan, how could I resist commenting on Williams v. Smith [pdf]: a suit revolving around the hiring of an assistant basketball coach with an ex-Kentucky coach as a defendant, and … Continue Reading
As of September 1, 2012, service by e-mail of pleadings and other court documents is mandatory in Florida state court civil cases.Every pleading subsequent to the initial pleading and every other document filed in any court proceeding must be served on each party in accordance with these new rules, which are summarized below. The decision implementing … Continue Reading
