Plaintiff, a resident of Georgia, filed personal injury case for injuries from motor vehicle accident; matter was subject to nonbinding mandatory arbitration. During the morning of the arbitration hearing, Plaintiff called her attorney to advise that she was driving to hearing from Georgia but would arrive late due to a snowstorm en route. Plaintiff's counsel then proceeded with the hearing in her absence, while another attorney from that office presented an emergency motion for extension of time which court denied it because arbitration hearing had already begun. Plaintiff (who arrived 4 hours after hearing had begun) made requisite showing that her failure to appear was not in bad faith, and was not found to be a deliberate and pronounced disregard for the rules and the court. Court abused its discretion in imposing sanction of precluding Plaintiff from rejecting the arbitration award entered for Defendant. (MIKVA and WALKER, concurring.)
Illinois Appellate Court
Civil Court
Arbitration