The Illinois Supreme Court has announced that on Thursday morning, it will file opinions in three new civil cases. They are:
- Mashal v. The City of Chicago, No. 112341 – (1) What is a ‘decision on the merits’ under 735 ILCS 5/2-802 that would preclude the entry of a class decertification order? (2) Whether, in a class action case challenging defendants’ practice of issuing parking or standing violations to taxicab drivers and others by mail and without any personal service on the driver or placement of the citation on the offending vehicle, a prior Judge’s ruling that the defendants’ ‘practice of sending a second notice of a parking or standing violation prior to an initial notice being either hand delivered to the driver of the vehicle or affixed to the vehicle is violative of the plain language of the statute and the ordinances’ constitutes a decision on the merits under section 2-802 of the Code such that a subsequent judge presiding in the case lacks the authority to decertify the class? (3) Whether, in a class action case challenging defendants’ practice of issuing parking or standing violations to taxicab drivers and others by mail and without any personal service on the driver or placement of the citation on the offending vehicle, a prior Judge’s ruling that denied the defendants’ motion for partial summary judgment on the application of their affirmative defenses of failure to exhaust administrative remedies, res judicata, the collateral attack doctrine, and the voluntary payment doctrine constitutes a decision on the merits under section 2-802 such that a subsequent Judge presiding in the case lacks the authority to decertify the class? (4) Whether, in a class action case challenging defendants’ practice of issuing parking or standing violations to taxicab drivers and others by mail and without any personal service on the driver or placement of the citation on the offending vehicle, a Judge’s ruling that granted in part the defendants’ motion for summary judgment on the application of the statute of limitations constitutes a decision on the merits under section 2-802 such that a subsequent Judge presiding in the case lacks the authority to decertify the class. For our preview of the case, see here. For our report on the oral argument, see here.
- Wilson v. Edward Hospital, No. 112898 – Are actual agency and apparent agency separate claims for purposes of the res judicata doctrine and the prohibition against claim-splitting set forth by the Supreme Court in Hudson v. City of Chicago, 228 Ill.2d 462 (2008) and Rein v. David A. Noyes & Co., 172 Ill.2d 325 (1996), so that summary judgment entered on the actual agency claims in plaintiffs’ initial suit bars plaintiffs’ apparent agency claims in a refiled suit, even in the face of a ruling that there is a question of fact as to the apparent agency claims?
- Hernandez v. Bernstein, No. 113054 — (1) Is an action for legal malpractice based on one factual theory one claim for purposes of res judicata, or two? (2) Does a plaintiff’s voluntary dismissal of the remainder of his claim render the trial court’s order dismissing one of plaintiff’s factual theories final for purposes of res judicata? For our preview of the case, see here. For our report on the oral argument, see here.