According to the Election Code, anyone wishing to get judicial review of a decision of an electoral board must “serve a copy of the petition upon the electoral board and other parties to the proceeding . . .” But how do you do that – particularly when the electoral board has no permanent offices? That … Continue Reading
Last week, the Illinois Supreme Court reaffirmed the principle that retaliatory discharge is a narrow exception to the general doctrine of at-will employment under Illinois law. Unanimously reversing the Fifth District of the Appellate Court in Michael v. Precision Alliance Group, LLC, the Court held that where an employer chooses to give a valid, nonpretextual … Continue Reading
On Thursday morning, a unanimous Illinois Supreme Court affirmed in Huber v. American Accounting Association. As briefed, Huber presented the question of whether a postmark was sufficient proof of timely mailing to trigger Illinois’ limited mailbox rule. But in the end, in an opinion by Justice Mary Jane Theis, the Court held that the plaintiff didn’t … Continue Reading
State of Illinois ex rel. Pusateri v. The Peoples Gas Light and Coke Company presented an important question for the utilities bar: do the Circuit Courts have jurisdiction to order rate refunds on the grounds that the utility allegedly used falsified information in support of its rate case? On Thursday morning, a unanimous Illinois Supreme … Continue Reading
One of the most widely anticipated cases on the Illinois Supreme Court’s civil docket ended on Thursday morning with a surprise: the Court decided not to decide, dismissing the appeal in a per curiam order. Keating v. City of Chicago was a constitutional challenge to the validity of Chicago’s red light camera ordinance. Our detailed … Continue Reading
Last month, a divided Supreme Court held that a subcontractor on a public works program should have timely proceeded against the project bond, and had no remedy against the Village after the general contractor went bankrupt before paying the sub’s bill. In an opinion by Justice Theis, the Court held in Lake County Grading Company, … Continue Reading
Last month, a unanimous Illinois Supreme Court rejected assorted constitutional challenges to 2011 amendments to the Department of Professional Regulation Law governing medical licensing. In an opinion by Justice Burke, the Court affirmed the judgment of Division 1 of the First District Appellate Court in Hayashi v. The Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation. Our … Continue Reading
Last month, the Illinois Supreme Court handed down its unanimous decision in a case being closely watched by the local bar associations – Goldfine v. Barack, Ferrazzano, Kirschbaum & Perlman. Goldfine involved the issue of what damages are available, and how damages are calculated, in a claim for legal malpractice arising from an underlying claim … Continue Reading
A unanimous Illinois Supreme Court recently decided Slepicka v. The Illinois Department of Public Health. The Court defined proper venue for an action under state law for judicial review of an administrative decision, and rejected a claim that improper venue was a jurisdictional defect necessitating dismissal. Our detailed summary of the facts and lower court opinions in … Continue Reading
In its second significant decision on public employee pensions of the morning, the Illinois Supreme Court has reversed the Appellate Court in The People ex rel. Madigan v. Burge. In an opinion by Justice Anne M. Burke, joined by Justices Thomas, Karmeier and Theis, the Court holds that the Circuit Courts lack jurisdiction to hear most … Continue Reading
The Illinois Supreme Court has issued its much-anticipated opinion in Kanerva v. Weems. Kanerva represents the Court’s first opportunity to address the state Constitution’s Pension Protection Clause since the Illinois General Assembly enacted pension reform eight months ago. In the wake of the 6-1 decision, the task facing defenders of reform likely has gotten significantly more difficult. Our … Continue Reading
A unanimous Illinois Supreme Court added a new complication for plaintiffs’ counsel handling wrongful death cases late last week, unanimously holding in In re Estate of Perry C. Powell that an attorney representing the decedent in a wrongful death action owes a duty of due care akin to the duty owed his direct client – … Continue Reading
In child custody cases where the parent awarded primary custody of the children has significantly greater resources than the non-custodial parent, can a court order the custodial parent to pay child support to the non-custodial parent? Late last week in In re Marriage of Turk, a unanimous Illinois Supreme Court held that the answer is “yes.” … Continue Reading
Nearly every state has some variation on a “Good Samaritan” law. In Illinois, the statute says that any licensed medical professional “who, in good faith, provides emergency care without fee to a person, shall not, as a result of his or her acts or omissions, except willful or wanton misconduct on the part of the … Continue Reading
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
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
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
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
On Friday afternoon, in an opinion by Justice Robert R. Thomas, a unanimous Illinois Supreme Court held that fraud-based claims against architects are subject to a five-year statute of limitations. In Gillespie Community Unit School District No. 7 v. Wight & Company, the Court rejected the plaintiff school district’s argument that such claims were subject to … Continue Reading
This morning, a six-justice majority of the Illinois Supreme Court has reversed the Fourth District of the Appellate Court, holding in The Venture-Newberg-Perini, Stone & Webster v. The Illinois Workers’ Compensation Commission that temporarily relocating for a distant job did not transform an employee’s commute into part of his or her employment for purposes of … Continue Reading
In the final announced opinion day of 2013, the Supreme Court has filed its opinion in Hooker v. The Retirement Board of the Firemen’s Annuity and Benefit Fund of Chicago, holding that the plaintiffs – widows of two deceased firefighters – are not entitled to the inclusion of “duty availability pay” in their survivors’ annuities. Our … Continue Reading
In its sixth and final unanimous civil decision of the morning, the Illinois Supreme Court adopted a narrow construction of the exemption for public utilities provided under the Prevailing Wage Act. Reversing a decision of the Fourth District in The People of the State of Illinois ex rel. Illinois Department of Labor v. E.R.H. Enterprises, Inc., … Continue Reading
This morning, a unanimous Illinois Supreme Court handed down its opinion in Schultz v. Performance Lighting, Inc. Schultz presented a question relating to domestic relations and child support cases: is a notice to withhold salary under the Income Withholding for Support Act invalid if it substantially – but not strictly – complies with the requirements of … Continue Reading
This morning, the Illinois Supreme Court filed its opinion in Wells Fargo Bank, N.A. v. McCluskey, holding that once a motion to confirm a judicial sale in a foreclosure action has been filed, the generous grounds set forth in the Code of Civil Procedure for setting aside a default no longer apply, and the Foreclosure … Continue Reading
