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Articles Posted in Illinois Civil Procedure

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Cook County Jury Verdict Finds for Motorist Over Bicyclist

On March 25, 2011, Lance Wright, a 50-year-old bicyclist, was on a public sidewalk heading southbound past a Walgreens store at its parking lot at 5431 S. Harlem Ave. in Chicago, Ill. The bike he was riding collided with the defendant’s car as it was leaving the parking lot. Wright argued…

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Illinois Appellate Court Limits Recovery Where Insurance Company Goes Out of Business

Illinois law provides for losses suffered when an Illinois insurance company goes bankrupt, is liquidated or cannot meets its obligations.  The Illinois Insurance Guarantee Fund is available to step in when an insurance company fails. In this case, the Illinois Supreme Court reversed and remanded a decision written by the…

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Illinois Allows Only One Voluntary Dismissal of a Lawsuit

The Illinois Appellate Court has affirmed a decision made by a Cook County Circuit Court judge regarding a twice-filed injury case. Michael Fiorito and Joseph Bellocchio were involved in a traffic collision on Oct. 19, 2001. Fiorito was injured and hired a lawyer to sue Bellocchio.  In August 2003, the attorney…

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Cook County Circuit Court Judges Clarify the Illinois Wrongful Death Act and the Illinois Survival Statute

Recently two Cook County Circuit Court judges, Judge Lynn M. Egan (Law Division) and Judge Mary Ellen Coghlan (Probate Division), developed an instructive PowerPoint program for Illinois lawyers, in an effort to clearly define the differences between wrongful death actions and survival actions in Illinois. In a wrongful death act…

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Illinois Law and the Expert’s Role in Testifying: “Reasonable Certainty” and “More Probably True”

For as long as I have been practicing law, now 37 years, the question an expert must always be asked is whether his or her opinion is to a reasonable degree of certainty. Once that question is answered in the affirmative, the burden for the offering expert is whether the opinion…

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Illinois Appellate Court Affirms Choice of Forum in Product Defect Case

Jack Taylor was a motocross enthusiast from the downstate Illinois town of Lewistown. Taylor replaced a tire for his motocross bike on July 9, 2009 with a new one he purchased from a store in Peoria, Ill.  On July 11, 2009, Taylor went to the Sunset Ridge MX MotoCross Course in…

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Illinois Appellate Court Weighs in on Limited Joinder

In April 2009, the plaintiffs brought a lawsuit against James W. Hall, Cassandra McCord, JWH Management Inc. and JWH Family Partnership Ltd. Right after the lawsuit was brought, another group of plaintiffs filed a separate lawsuit naming some of the same defendants and then others.  In the first litigation — the…

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Motion for Summary Judgment Must be Accompanied by Affidavit with Specific Facts or Account for Personal Knowledge

In January 2003, Michael Henderson, the defendant, wanted to rehabilitate real estate he owned. He submitted a loan application to the plaintiff, National Lending Services Inc. National Lending approved Henderson’s loan. The loan provided for an adjustable rate interest in which the interest only was paid until the loan matured on…

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Court Reverses Summary Judgment Order in Contract Case Where Questions of Fact Remained

Archon Construction Co. was hired by the defendant U.S. Shelter to install a sewer system for a development, which was a small residential subdivision in Elgin. The contract between the parties was signed on June 5, 2005 and specified the types and quantities of material to be used by Archon.  For…

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Insurance Company’s Restrictive Endorsement Did Not Limit Coverage in Accident; Indiana Insurance Co. v. Royce Realty

Cathy Stackhouse obtained a $4.5 million jury verdict against Lakemoor Golf Course and Royce Realty for an accident that took place on Lakemoor’s golf course. The golf course and Royce Realty were insured by Indiana Insurance Co. Royce Realty was the manager of several golf courses, shopping centers and apartment buildings. Because…

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