In the closing days of its May term, the Illinois Supreme Court agreed to decide whether an academic at the University of Illinois could obtain injunctive relief from the Circuit Court to halt an ongoing University investigation into plaintiff’s alleged research misconduct. The Court allowed a petition for leave to appeal in Leetaru v. Board … Continue Reading
Although Illinois courts are courts of general jurisdiction presumed to have subject matter jurisdiction, this presumption doesn’t apply to workers’ compensation proceedings. Pursuant to Section 19(f)(2) of the Workers’ Compensation Act (820 ILCS 305/19(f)(2)), in order to vest the circuit court with jurisdiction to review an award made by the Commission, a party must file … Continue Reading
In the closing days of its May term, the Illinois Supreme Court allowed a petition for leave to appeal from a decision of the Appellate Court for the Second District in Ferris, Thompson and Zweig, Ltd. v. Esposito. Ferris, Thompson poses the question of whether the Workers’ Compensation Commission has exclusive jurisdiction over a … Continue Reading
It’s one of the most fundamental rules of appellate practice: the notice of appeal has to be timely filed, or the appellate court is without jurisdiction to do anything other than dismiss the appeal. In the closing days of the May term, the Illinois Supreme Court allowed a petition for leave to appeal in Williams … Continue Reading
When a liquor licensee’s former manager is convicted of conspiring to violate the federal Money Laundering Act, can the licensee be summarily stripped of its liquor license, based upon the criminal trial transcript, a stipulation of the parties, and brief arguments by counsel? In the closing days of its May term, a unanimous Illinois Supreme … Continue Reading
In the closing days of its May term, the Illinois Supreme Court agreed to clarify a fundamental issue for the employment bar: what are the parties’ respective burdens of proof in a case for wrongful termination? Michael v. Precision Alliance Group, LLC involves an agricultural company in the business of raising, packaging and distributing … Continue Reading
In the closing days of the recently concluded May term of the Illinois Supreme Court, the Court opened up the State’s Attorneys around the state to increased public scrutiny. In an opinion by Justice Lloyd Karmeier for a unanimous Court, the Justices held in Nelson v. County of Kendall that the offices of the State’s … Continue Reading
Can the Illinois state courts order mandatory cleanups of older landfills? The Illinois Supreme Court agreed to decide that issue late last month, allowing a petition for leave to appeal in People ex rel. Madigan v. J. T. Einoder, Inc. Einoder involves a husband and wife and two corporations which they control. The landfill site was … Continue Reading
The concept behind the innocent insured doctrine is simple: where there are multiple insureds on an insurance policy, a breach by one does not necessarily eliminate coverage for those not personally involved in the breach. But what if the breach occurs in conjunction with a renewal application? That’s the question the Illinois Supreme Court agreed to … Continue Reading
We continue our previews of the civil cases accepted for review in the closing days of the Illinois Supreme Court’s March term with Harris v. One Hope United, Inc. In Harris, the First District declined to recognize the existence of a self-critical analysis privilege in Illinois, calling the recognition of new common law privileges “a … Continue Reading
The Illinois Supreme Court has decided a number of cases in recent years involving choices between form and substance or strict and substantial compliance. In most (but not all) cases, a majority of the Justices have sided with substantial compliance and proceeded to the merits. The Court took one more such case as the March term … Continue Reading
The Illinois Supreme Court has announced that it expects to file opinions in four civil cases on Thursday morning, March 20. Among the new opinions will be one of the two most anxiously awaited cases on the court’s advisement docket – Spanish Court Two Condominium Association. The cases, with their issues presented and links to our earlier … Continue Reading
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
[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
The Illinois Supreme Court has announced that it will file opinions in two civil cases on Friday morning at 10 a.m. The cases and issues presented are: Evanston Insurance Co. v. Riseborough, No. 114271 – Does the statute of repose for actions against attorneys “arising out of an act or omission in the performance of professional … Continue Reading
Our previews of the newest additions to the Illinois Supreme Court’s civil docket conclude with State of Illinois ex rel. Pusateri v. The Peoples Gas Light and Coke Company. An unpublished decision from the Fourth Division of the First District, Pusateri involves two major issues relating to the scope of the state Whistleblower Act: (1) does … Continue Reading
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
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
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
We begin our previews of the civil cases which the Illinois Supreme Court agreed to review at the conclusion of its January term with Bruns v. The City of Centralia, Illinois. Bruns – which arises from the Fifth District – offers the Court an opportunity to discuss the breadth of the so-called "distraction" exception to the … Continue Reading
The civil portion of the Illinois Supreme Court’s argument docket for the January term begins tomorrow morning at 9:30 a.m. in the Court’s temporary courtroom on the 18th floor of the Michael A. Bilandic Building, 160 N. LaSalle Street, Chicago. The cases, with questions presented, are: Call Wednesday, January 22, 2014: Home Star Bank and Financial … Continue Reading
Our previews of the newly allowed petitions for leave to appeal from the closing days of the November term continue with In re Marriage of Turk, which poses a potentially ground-breaking question of domestic relations law: can a court order a custodial parent to pay child support to the non-custodial parent? The mother in Turk … Continue Reading
In the closing days of the recently concluded November term, the Illinois Supreme Court allowed petitions for leave to appeal from three new civil cases. Our first-look previews of those cases begin today with People ex rel. Madigan v. Illinois Commerce Commission. Madigan is an interesting grant for the Court. On the face of the Appellate Court’s … Continue Reading
The Illinois Supreme Court has announced that it will hand down decisions tomorrow morning in six civil cases argued during the September term of the Court (exactly half the docket from that term). The cases are: People ex rel. The Department of Labor v. E.R.H. Enterprises, No. 115106 – How is a “public utility” defined for … Continue Reading
