Our reports on the oral arguments of the Illinois Supreme Court’s September term continue with In re Estate of Boyar. Can you accept money from your parents’ will and then challenge it in court? No; that’s settled in nearly every state. But, as counsel for the trustee in Boyar told the Court, living trusts have become … Continue Reading
Our reports on the oral arguments of the Illinois Supreme Court’s September term continue with Toftoy v. Rosenwinkel. Toftoy is an interesting case because it presents a textbook example of a clash between two classic forms of legal analysis. Professor Ward Farnsworth discusses the distinction at length in his classic book The Legal Analyst: the conflict … Continue Reading
Our reports on the oral arguments of the Illinois Supreme Court’s September term continue with Mathis v. Mathis. Mathis presents a question which frequently arises in divorce proceedings: when a significant period passes between the divorce and the property settlement, what is the date on which the property is valued? For the first time in the term, … Continue Reading
Our reports on the oral arguments of the Illinois Supreme Court’s September term continue with EMC Mortgage Corp. v. Kemp. Kemp presents the question of when a home foreclosure may be appealed. The facts and lower court opinions in Kemp are described in detail here. Based upon the Court’s questions, it seems reasonably likely that the Court … Continue Reading
Our reports on the oral arguments of the Illinois Supreme Court’s September term continue with Carr v. Koch. In Carr, the taxpayer plaintiffs are challenging Circuit Court and Appellate Court decisions that they lacked standing to challenge the state’s education funding statute; but based on the Court’s questioning, it appears unlikely that their suit will be … Continue Reading
Our reports on the oral arguments of the Illinois Supreme Court’s September term continue with Cooney v. Rossiter, a case about the breadth of immunity for court-appointed psychologists in child custody cases. Based on the questions at argument, the Court appeared to be searching for alternatives short of limiting the scope of such experts’ immunity. The … Continue Reading
A casual viewer might be forgiven after watching the oral argument last week in Center Partners, Ltd. v. Growth Head GP, LLC for being uncertain exactly what the law of Illinois was regarding the applicability of subject matter waiver to disclosures of attorney-client communications outside litigation. In a nearly hour-long debate, opposing counsel presented diametrically opposed … Continue Reading
With this post, we begin our reports on the oral arguments for the Illinois Supreme Court’s September term. In Hernandez v. Bernstein, the first civil case of the term, the Court seems likely to hold that plaintiff’s two successive complaints were alternative versions of a single claim, meaning that plaintiff’s voluntary dismissal without prejudice of the … Continue Reading
One of the quirky pleasures of every first-year law student’s property class is the amount of time taken up studying rules which were settled around the time that the Tudors were on the British throne — sometimes even earlier. On Thursday, the Illinois Supreme Court brought back one of the classics, a rule first propounded … Continue Reading
At least in theory, the days are long gone in most jurisdictions when courts were openly hostile to arbitration. Nevertheless, petitions to arbitrate are a frequent battleground between plaintiffs and defendants. On Thursday, a unanimous Illinois Supreme Court offered important guidance for determining such petitions, filing its decision in Carter v. SSC Odin Operating Co. Carter arises … Continue Reading
The doctrine of equitable estoppel bars a party from denying a fact, or opposing a claim, based on that party’s previous statements or conduct. As a general rule, depending on the circumstances, it can be based on either actual authority, meaning that the speaker or actor had authority to bind the defendant, or apparent authority: the … Continue Reading
For generations, Illinois has recognized the general principle that a landowner owes no duty of reasonable care to trespassers. This duty is subject to a number of exceptions; one pertains to children. Since Kahn v. James Burton Co., Illinois has applied a three-step test to determining whether a duty is owed to a child trespasser: (1) the … Continue Reading
Resolution of child custody issues — and particularly, the issue of removing the children from the jurisdiction — is often one of the most contentious points in a divorce proceeding. On Thursday, the Illinois Supreme Court handed down a decision in In re Marriage of Coulter which should make it easier for parties to resolve such … Continue Reading
Our preview of the September term of the Illinois Supreme Court concludes with Hope Clinic for Women v. Adams [pdf]. Although Hope Clinic arises from a constitutional challenge to Illinois’ Parental Notice of Abortion Act, the issues before the Court have little to do with abortion law. Instead, the case raises broad issues about the interpretation of the … Continue Reading
Our preview of the September term of the Illinois Supreme Court continues with Ferguson v. Georges [pdf], a case which might prove to have important implications for Illinois political ethics law. Ferguson is an in-house dispute between the Inspector General of Chicago and the Corporation Counsel for the city. The Inspector General is charged with investigating … Continue Reading
Our preview of the September term of the Illinois Supreme Court continues with Mashal v. City of Chicago [pdf], a case which presents interesting questions about the scope of Circuit Courts’ power to decertify a class. Mashal involves the City of Chicago’s practice of issuing what were called “fly-by” traffic citations to taxi drivers – … Continue Reading
Our preview of the September term of the Illinois Supreme Court continues with Fennell v. Illinois Central Railroad Company [pdf], a case which may clarify the standards limiting the ability of a plaintiff – or sometimes, a plaintiff’s counsel — to shop for what he or she perceives to be a friendly forum. Fennell is … Continue Reading
Our preview of the September term of the Illinois Supreme Court continues with Rodriquez v. Department of Financial and Professional Regulation [pdf]. Rodriquez is the third case on the Court’s docket this month that turns on res judicata, following Hernandez v. Bernstein and Cooney v. Rossiter. A great many statutes allow successful plaintiffs to collect attorneys … Continue Reading
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
