Illinois Appellate Court
Civil Court
Administrative Review
Plaintiff, a paramedic and EMS instructor, filed declaratory judgment action to suspend and dismiss administrative action of State to revoke her instructor's license. Plaintiff was not required to exhaust her administrative remedies because she came within exception by challenging authority of agency to proceed with pending license revocation action under statute or administrative rule. Collateral estoppel and res judicata do not preclude agency's second administrative action, as administrative order of 2010 was not a final judgment on the merits, which is required to trigger either doctrine. Order of 2010 could not act as collateral estoppel with respect to a statute it did not construe. (GORDON and PALMER, concurring.)