In yet another unanimous decision handed down this morning, the Illinois Supreme Court has streamlined procedures to certify pollution control facilities by barring certain third party appeals. Our detailed summary of the facts and lower court opinion in The Board of Education of Roxana Community School District No. 1 v. The Pollution Control Board is here. Our report … Continue Reading
This morning, a unanimous Illinois Supreme Court handed the Illinois Insurance Guaranty Fund a win, reversing the Appellate Court’s decision in Rogers v. Imeri. Rogers posed the question of how the Fund’s offset for prior settlements is calculated – and therefore, what is the Fund’s maximum possible liability – in a Dramshop Act case. Our detailed summary … Continue Reading
This morning, the Illinois Supreme Court handed down its highly anticipated decision in Hartney Fuel Oil Co. v. Hamer. Hartney Fuel Oil raises an important question of Illinois business and tax law: how does one determine which local jurisdiction is entitled to collect sales tax on a transaction? Our detailed summary of the facts and lower court … Continue Reading
In Illinois (as in every other state), when an insurance company becomes insolvent and an order of liquidation is entered, the Illinois Insurance Guaranty Fund steps in and pays claims that the insolvent carrier could not pay. The Fund’s liability is capped at $300,000, but that cap isn’t applicable to “workers compensation claims.” Skokie Castings, Inc. v. … Continue Reading
As I mentioned earlier this week in discussing Performance Marketing, the Illinois Supreme Court has been a somewhat cool audience over the past ten years for constitutional claims. That’s why it was mildly surprising late last week to see the Court strike down two statutes in a single morning. The first, of course, was Performance Marketing, in … Continue Reading
On Friday morning, the Illinois Supreme Court pointed out a trap for the unwary in an unexpected place – what happens if a complaint is filed, but unbeknownst to the plaintiff, the defendant had died several months earlier? In Relf v. Shatayeva, Justice Lloyd A. Karmeier, writing for a six-Justice majority, reversed the Appellate Court’s judgment … Continue Reading
On Friday morning, the Illinois Supreme Court handed down its opinion in one of its most high-profile pending cases. The Court held in Performance Marketing Association, Inc. v. Hamer that the federal Internet Tax Freedom Act (ITFA) preempted the Illinois "Click-Through" Act, also known as the "Amazon tax" – becoming (according to lone dissenter Justice Lloyd … Continue Reading
This morning, a unanimous Illinois Supreme Court strongly reaffirmed the "leveling the playing field" rules of the Marriage and Dissolution of Marriage Act in In re Marriage of Earlywine. The Act provides that a court can order disgorgement of one party’s attorneys fees in order to enable the other party to pay his or her attorney. A … Continue Reading
Does the State of Illinois have to pay elected officials’ attorney fees when the underlying complaint alleges that the official committed "intentional, willful or wanton misconduct"? Earlier this month, a unanimous Illinois Supreme Court held in McFatridge v. Madigan that the answer was "no." Our detailed report on the facts and underlying court opinions in McFatridge is … Continue Reading
The Federal Telephone Consumer Protection Act provides that it’s unlawful to send unsolicited advertisements to a fax machine. 47 USC 227(b)(1)(C). The statute creates a private right of action, with damages equal to actual losses or $500 per fax, whichever is greater. If the violation is willful and knowing, then it’s $1,500 per fax. So are TCPA statutory … Continue Reading
How is a worker’s lump-sum settlement for a disabling injury — a payment meant to compensate for lost income for the remainder of the worker’s expected working life — treated for purposes of calculating the non-custodial parent’s child support obligation? On Thursday, the Illinois Supreme Court unanimously held in In re Marriage of Mayfield that … Continue Reading
Yesterday, the Illinois Supreme Court filed its long-awaited opinion in Palm v. 2800 Lake Shore Drive Condominium Association. Although on its face, Palm relates only to the enforceability of a Chicago city ordinance on document requests to condominium associations, if the dissenters on the Court are correct, it may have long-lasting impact on the Court’s construction … Continue Reading
On Thursday morning, the Illinois Supreme Court filed its decision in Russell v. SNFA. We were watching Russell closely here at Appellate Strategist because it was the Court’s first opportunity to apply the United States Supreme Court’s decision in J. McIntyre Machinery, Ltd. v. Nicastro. In Nicastro, a plurality of the high court held that merely placing … Continue Reading
The Illinois Supreme Court granted leave to appeal in In re Estate of Boyar to decide whether the doctrine of election applies to trusts, and, if it does, to delineate any exceptions to the doctrine. But when the Court’s opinion was filed on Thursday morning, Boyar turned out to be something of a letdown: in a … Continue Reading
A testator has held a younger man out for nearly sixty years as being his son. When the testator drafts a will stating that he has no children, is that statement a sufficient basis to plead a will challenge based on lack of testamentary capacity? On Thursday, a unanimous Supreme Court, in an opinion by Justice Robert … Continue Reading
In a unanimous opinion reversing in part Division Six of the First District, the Illinois Supreme Court has held in Ferguson v. Patton [pdf] that the Inspector General for the City of Chicago lacks the authority to retain private counsel to enforce his or her subpoenas in court. Instead, the Inspector General is required to rely … Continue Reading
The Illinois Supreme Court took an unexpected turn in its second civil decision of Friday morning, using State Bank of Cherry v. CGB Enterprises, Inc. [pdf] as a vehicle to clarify the standard which Illinois state courts should use to decide Federal law issues. In an opinion written by Justice Rita B. Garman, the Court affirmed … Continue Reading
On Friday morning, the Illinois Supreme Court delivered a strong reminder of the importance of arbitration proceedings in labor disputes. The Court unanimously reaffirmed the highly deferential standard applied to judicial review of an arbitrator’s decision in an opinion by Justice Anne M. Burke in Griggsville-Perry Community Unit School District No. 4. v. Illinois Educational Labor Relations … Continue Reading
Under Illinois law, courts may under certain circumstances enter a judgment of dissolution in a divorce case and wait until later, as part of a bifurcated proceeding, to enter a property distribution judgment. The problem with that is that sometimes the parties’ sense of urgency to get the proceeding over with dims once the marriage has … Continue Reading
May a lifelong resident of Mississippi who alleges that he was exposed to asbestos and assorted other allegedly toxic agents while working out of the defendant’s Jackson Mississippi facility nevertheless sue for his alleged injuries in Illinois, even though numerous potential witnesses lived in Mississippi and plaintiff alleged no exposure here? On Friday morning, the Illinois … Continue Reading
Under Illinois law, a judgment of foreclosure does not end a mortgage foreclosure case; it remains modifiable by the trial court and is strictly interlocutory. After such a judgment is entered, the property is sold once periods for reinstatement and redemption have expired. The person who conducted the sale then reports to the court and, upon motion, … Continue Reading
Cooney v. Rossiter presented two questions: (1) was the plaintiffs’ individual action barred by the dismissal of an earlier putative class action; and (2) is a court-appointed psychological evaluator in a child custody proceeding entitled to absolute immunity from suit by one of the parents in the action. This morning, the Illinois Supreme Court affirmed the … Continue Reading
In its second opinion of the day on the doctrine of res judicata, a unanimous Illinois Supreme Court has affirmed the First District, Fifth Division’s decision in Hernandez v. Pritikin [pdf]. A detailed discussion of the underlying facts and the rulings of the Circuit Court and Appellate Court appears in our pre-argument preview here. Our argument report … Continue Reading
The basic rule of res judicata is easy enough to state: a final judgment on the merits by a court with jurisdiction bars any further actions by the parties or their privies on the same claim. But what judgments (or orders) are “final”? And what’s a “claim”? The Illinois Supreme Court delved into those important questions this morning, … Continue Reading
