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Waiting for Iskanian, Part 4: Friends of the Defendant

As we await Thursday’s oral argument before the California Supreme Court in Iskanian v. CLS Transportation Los Angeles, our series of preview posts continues. This time in Part 4, we take a look at the seven amicus curiae briefs filed in support of the defendant. To read all the briefs in Iskanian, check out the National Chamber … Continue Reading

Waiting for Iskanian, Part 3 – Friends of the Plaintiff

  As we await Thursday’s oral argument before the California Supreme Court in Iskanian v. CLS Transportation of Los Angeles, in Part 3 of our series of posts, we’ll take a look at the amici curiae supporting plaintiffs. To read all the briefs in Iskanian, both merits and amici, check out the National Chamber Litigation Center’s … Continue Reading

Illinois Supreme Court Hands Down Significant Decision on Effect of Personal Jurisdiction Waiver

  Maintaining and asserting objections to personal jurisdiction has been one of the more difficult issues in the law of most jurisdictions for years. Thursday morning, the Illinois Supreme Court clarified an issue of jurisdictional law which has divided the Appellate Courts with its unanimous decision in BAC Home Loans Servicing, LP v. Mitchell. In Illinois, … Continue Reading

Illinois Supreme Court Holds Custody Evaluator’s Fees Not Court Costs Under Dismissal Statutes

  On Thursday, the Illinois Supreme Court handed down its decision in In re Marriage of Tiballi, answering a question of potential importance to domestic relations practitioners: are the fees of a court-appointed psychologist “costs” which must be fully paid when one party decides to drop a custody dispute? A unanimous court found that the answer … Continue Reading

Illinois Supreme Court Reaffirms Forcible Entry Remedy, Reversing in Spanish Court Two Condominium

One of the two most anxiously awaited cases on the Illinois Supreme Court’s civil docket was handed down this morning, and it was a big win for Illinois condominium associations: a sharply divided Court reversed the controversial decision of the Appellate Court’s Second District in Spanish Court Two Condominium Association v. Carlson. Our detailed summary of … Continue Reading

Illinois Supreme Court’s March Docket Announced

The Illinois Supreme Court has published its docket for the March term in Chicago. The civil cases on the Court’s docket include: Tuesday, March 18, 2014 – 9:30 a.m. The Estate of Perry C. Powell v. John C. Wunsch, No. 115997 & 116009 — Does the lawyer who brings a wrongful death action owe a duty … Continue Reading

Could an Insurer’s Dec Action Waive the Right to Participate in Settlement in Illinois?

[This post appeared earlier on the Sedgwick Insurance Law Blog.] An insurer offers its insured a defense under a reservation of rights and files a complaint seeking a declaratory judgment determining coverage. This is not an uncommon sequence of events, either in Illinois or anywhere else. But does the insured then have the right to settle the … Continue Reading

Illinois Supreme Court Debates Jurisdiction Over Pension Dispute

The Illinois Supreme Court seemed conflicted during an extremely active oral argument in late January in the high-profile pension case People ex rel. Madigan v. Burge. Burge poses the following issue: can the Attorney General challenge the actions of the Police Pension Board by simply filing suit in the Circuit Court, as opposed to pursuing administrative … Continue Reading

Illinois Supreme Court Upholds Employee Classification Act

Yesterday in Bartlow v. Costigan, a unanimous Illinois Supreme Court took a pass, for the most part, on deciding constitutional challenges to provisions of the Employee Classification Act which were amended by the legislature while the appeal was pending. The Court rejected a void-for-vagueness challenge to the section of the statute which was unchanged. Our detailed summary … Continue Reading

What the Pension Reform Decision in Arizona May Mean for Illinois

Today the Arizona Supreme Court has handed down its much-anticipated decision in Fields v. The Elected Officials’ Retirement Plan. In Fields, the Court unanimously struck down a pension reform package enacted by the legislature in 2011, finding that the statute violated the Pension Clause of the Arizona Constitution. The decision will be much debated in Illinois, where … Continue Reading

Illinois Supreme Court to Decide Whether Insurance Agents Owe a Duty of Care

Our previews of the civil cases which the Illinois Supreme Court agreed to review in the closing days of the January term continue with Skaperdas v. Country Casualty Insurance Company, a decision from the Fourth District. Skaperdas poses a question of considerable potential importance to the insurance industry: does an insurance agent owe customers a duty … Continue Reading

Illinois Supreme Court to Decide Whether Improper Venue in an Administrative Review Case Deprives the Circuit Court of Jurisdiction

Our previews of the new review grants from the Illinois Supreme Court’s January term continue with Slepicka v. State of Illinois, a case from the Fourth District of the Appellate Court. Slepicka poses a question of general importance for administrative law: what’s the proper venue for a petition for administrative review? The plaintiff in Slepicka resides … Continue Reading

The Perils of Incomplete Service

Our previews of the newest additions to the Illinois Supreme Court’s civil docket continue with Bettis v. Marsaglia, an election law case from the Fourth District. Bettis poses the question of whether a plaintiff’s failure to name the Electoral Board as a party defendant and separately serve the Board with her petition for review in the … Continue Reading

Illinois Supreme Court Debates Whether State FOIA Applies to State’s Attorney’s Offices

Based upon the oral argument during the recently-concluded January term, it is not clear what the Illinois Supreme Court is likely to decide in Nelson v. The Office of the Kendall County State’s Attorney. Nelson raises a deceptively simple issue: are the States’ Attorneys’ offices subject to the state Freedom of Information Act? Our detailed summary of … Continue Reading

Argument Report: Does Voluntarily Dismissing a Custody Petition Mean You Get Hit With The Psychologist’s Fees?

In our detailed summary of the underlying facts and lower court opinions in In re Marriage of Tiballi, we wrote that the question presented was whether a parent who voluntarily dismisses a custody petition can be hit with the full amount of the fees of a court-appointed child psychologist. Based upon the lively oral argument before … Continue Reading

Argument Report: Does Waiver of Personal Jurisdiction Apply to Orders Entered Before Service?

In the recently concluded January term of the Illinois Supreme Court, the court heard arguments in five civil cases. Our reports begin with BAC Home Loans Servicing, LP v. Mitchell. In BAC, an apparently skeptical Court heard arguments on whether a party’s waiver of his or her objection to personal jurisdiction could be limited to events … Continue Reading
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