Leading appellate attorneys review the Illinois Supreme Court opinions handed down Thursday, May 18. The cases are Better Government Ass'n v. Illinois High School Ass'n, In re Estate of Shelton, Ferris, Thompson & Zweig, Ltd v. Esposito, Chultem v. Ticor Title Insurance Co., and People v. Veach.
Supreme Court Quick Takes
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May 18, 2017 |
Practice News
1 comment (Most recent May 19, 2017)
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April 20, 2017 |
Practice News
A leading appellate attorney reviews the Illinois Supreme Court opinion handed down Thursday, April 20. The case is People v. Way.
By Kerry J. Bryson, Office of the State Appellate Defender
Ida Way was driving a vehicle when she crossed into oncoming traffic and struck another vehicle head-on, causing injuries to the driver of that vehicle as well as a passenger in her own car. Subsequent forensic testing revealed the presence of cannabis metabolite in Way's urine. She was charged with aggravated DUI based upon her having "any amount" of a drug, substance, or compound in her urine.
Way sought to defend against the charge by introducing evidence that a sudden, unforeseeable medical condition that caused her to lose consciousness was the proximate cause of the accident. She offered that her passenger would testify that she lost consciousness, three eyewitnesses would testify that they saw her shortly before the accident and she did not appear impaired, and her doctor would testify that it was possible that her loss of consciousness was due to her low blood pressure. The trial court rejected her request, concluding that the statute was one of strict liability "as to the accident." The appellate court looked to the law of proximate cause in civil cases and held that Way should have been permitted to present medical evidence.
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March 23, 2017 |
Practice News
Leading appellate attorneys review the Illinois Supreme Court opinions handed down Thursday, March 23. The civil cases are The Carle Foundation v. Cunningham Township, In re Marriage of Heroy, and Barr v. Cunningham, and, from the criminal docket, People v. Howard and People v. Pearse.
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February 19, 2017 |
Practice News
Leading appellate attorneys review the Illinois Supreme Court opinions handed down Friday, February 17. The cases are Stone Street Partners, LLC v. City of Chicago Dept. of Administrative Hearings, Wardwell v. Union Pacific Railroad Co., Grimm v. Calica, and, from the criminal docket, People v. Fort, People v. Ayres, and People v. Shinaul.
1 comment (Most recent February 21, 2017) -
January 21, 2017 |
Practice News
Our panel of leading appellate attorneys reviews the Illinois Supreme Court opinions handed down Friday, January 20. The cases are The Hertz Corporation v. City of Chicago, Board of Education of Springfield School Dist. No. 186 v. Attorney General of Illinois, Village of Bartonville v. Lopez, and People v. Johnson.
1 comment (Most recent January 23, 2017) -
January 2, 2017
Our panel of leading appellate attorneys reviews the Illinois Supreme Court opinions handed down Friday, December 30. The cases are Bremer v. The City of Rockford, Johnson v. Ames, People v. Price, and People v. Smith.
CIVIL
Bremer v. The City of Rockford
By Michael T. Reagan, Law Offices of Michael T. Reagan
In three cases since 2003, the Supreme Court has construed the phrase “catastrophic injury” in the Public Safety Benefits Act (820 ILCS 320/10(a)) to be synonymous with an injury resulting in a line-of-duty disability pension under section 4-110 of the Pension Code (40 ILCS 5/4-110). The controlling issue in this case is whether that phrase is also synonymous with an injury resulting in an occupational disease disability pension under section 4-110.1 of the Pension Code. The court, with Justice Thomas writing, unanimously held that the legislature did not intend for that phrase to be synonymous with a disease which resulted in the award of an occupational disease disability pension. The court stated that its prior cases were based on references in the legislative history to only the “line-of-duty” disability provision, and that nothing in the legislative history indicated an intent to expand the definition of “catastrophic injury.”
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December 15, 2016 |
Practice News
Our panel of leading appellate attorneys review Thursdays's Illinois Supreme Court opinions in the criminal case People v. McDonald and the civil cases Schweihs v. Chase Home Finance, LLC and In re M.I.
CRIMINAL
By Kerry J. Bryson, Office of the State Appellate Defender
Defendant Stanley McDonald stabbed his partner, Larry Gladney, resulting in Gladney’s death. A paramedic who had responded to the scene testified that Gladney was very combative as they tried to treat him. Gladney smelled of alcohol and had needle track marks indicative of drug use. Later testing showed a BAC of .19 and cocaine in Gladney’s system. Gladney died two days later, with the cause being a stroke resulting from a stab wound to his right cheek which had damaged his carotid artery and caused a blood clot.
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December 1, 2016 |
Practice News
Our panel of leading appellate attorneys review Thursday's top Illinois Supreme Court Civil opinions in In re M.M., Bueker v. Madison County Illinois, */ Beggs v. The Board of Education of Murphysboro Community Unit School District No. 186, Blanchard v. Berrios, Murphy-Hylton v. Lieberman Management Services, Inc. and Zahn v. North American Power & Gas, LLC.
By Joanne R. Driscoll, Forde Law Offices LLP
This case raises the procedural question of whether, in the adjudication of an abuse and neglect petition, the court has the authority to appoint a guardian for the minor when there has been no finding that a parent is unfit, unable or unwilling to care for the child. Answering the question “no,” the Illinois Supreme Court, in a unanimous opinion, repudiated and overruled several cases that were in conflict.
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December 1, 2016 |
Practice News
Our panel of leading appellate attorneys review Thursday's top Illinois Supreme Court Criminal opinions in People v. Matthews and People ex rel. Alvarez v. Gaughan.
By Kerry J. Bryson, Office of the State Appellate Defender
Following an unsuccessful direct appeal and post-conviction petition, Jerrell Matthews filed a petition for relief from judgment pursuant to 735 ILCS 5/2-1401, alleging that a State witness had committed perjury at his trial. The circuit court dismissed the petition on the basis that it was untimely.
The proof of service that Matthews filed with the petition said that the petition was mailed to the State with “proper first-class postage”
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October 20, 2016 |
Practice News
Our panel of leading appellate attorneys review Thursdays's Illinois Supreme Court opinions in the Civil case Carney v. Union Pacific R.R. Co. and the criminal cases People v. Jones and People v. Minnis.
CIVIL
Carney v. Union Pacific R.R. Co.
By Michael T. Reagan, Law Offices of Michael T. Reagan
In affirming the circuit court’s grant of summary judgment to the defendant Union Pacific, and reversing the appellate court, which had decided this case with a Rule 23 Order, the supreme court significantly examined three sections of the Restatement (Second) of Torts which are frequently invoked in cases involving injuries during construction. Justice Theis wrote for the court. Justice Kilbride dissented.