The Rev. Timothy O’Malley and William O’Malley were two of Eileen O’Malley’s sons. In 1996, Eileen O’Malley experienced the first signs of dementia. The same year, Eileen and Timothy opened a joint checking account with First Midwest Bank Corp. Eileen instructed that the account statements be sent to the Palos…
On June 20, 2010, Delores Franklin and Todd Gryczewski were in an automobile crash. Slightly more than two years later, on June 12, 2012, Gryczewski sued Franklin for injuries he suffered in that crash. Franklin died on Nov. 24, 2011. Gryczewski had no knowledge of his death at the time…
In the majority opinion given in a substitution of judge denial and subsequent appeal, the Illinois Appellate Court held that the denial of a motion for substitution of judge for cause is not a final order. The court cited the case of In re Marriage of Nettleton, 348 Ill.App.3d 961…
Under the Illinois Code of Civil Procedure §2-203.1 “Service by Special Order of Court” is allowed if it is impractical to serve someone (a defendant) at his or her place of abode. In that case, the court can direct a comparable method of service in any manner consistent with the…
The plaintiff Michael Hawkins signed a release when he purchased a gym membership from X-Sport Fitness, which is owned by Capital Fitness Inc. The release document did not expressly cover the unusual hazard of falling mirrors, which occurred at the Chicago facility when a 3-foot by 8-foot mirror fell from…
On Sept. 9, 2008, the plaintiff, Kevin Burkhamer, was injured when he was struck by a car driven by the defendant, Mel Richard Krumske. Burkhamer filed a lawsuit against Krumske claiming that he injured his hip, elbow, shoulder, left hand, neck and back. Burkhamer was employed as an ironworker and…
The Illinois Appellate Court for the Second District has reversed a Lake County, Ill., dismissal of a personal-injury and wrongful-death claim against Rene Melbourn who was dismissed on motion under the Illinois Code of Civil Procedures, Section 2-615, for failure to state a cause of action. The plaintiffs appealed the…
Cook County has the largest single unified court system in the United States. For the first time, on Jan. 5, 2015, the Circuit Court of Cook County began allowing media cameras in courtrooms. The pilot program has limited to the Leighton Criminal Court building at 26th and California streets in…
In 1986, Nina Willoughby operated a small business in which she sold retail clothes in a rented store. That year, she and Louis Fideli took out a $315,000 loan and purchased the store with other properties. The store property was kept solely in Fideli’s name. However, in 2003, Willoughby missed…
The Illinois appellate court has reinstated a product-liability lawsuit against a distributor in which there was a default judgment against the manufacturer of the product. In this case, the manufacturer was not subject to jurisdiction, and the plaintiff wasn’t able to satisfy the judgment. Nevertheless, the court ruled that the…