Jerry Walker suffered a personal injury when she fell while cruising on a Carnival Cruise Line ship. She sued Carnival in Illinois, but her ticket stated that disputes must be litigated in Miami, Florida. Carnival sought dismissal of Jerry’s lawsuit, arguing that Illinois was not the proper forum. The Illinois…
Jeffrey Woods and three associated parties had a dispute with the Patterson Law firm. The law firm claimed Woods et al. owed $47,000 for legal fees; Woods claimed the law firm committed legal malpractice. The law firm sued for the fees, but voluntarily dismissed its case. Woods then sued for…
Michelle Townsend brought a product liability case Sears Roebuck on behalf of her minor son Jacob. Jacob was badly injured when he was run over by a lawn tractor operated in his yard. Sears allegedly designed and manufactured the tractor. The accident happened in Michigan, where Michelle and Jacob resided.…
Janet Chochorowski rented a power tiller from a Home Depot in Missouri. She claimed she did not want to purchase a damage waiver, but that she was charged for it anyway. She turned her grievance into a class action lawsuit in Illinois. Janet’s breach of contract and unjust enrichment claims…
In a battle between insurance company titans, State Farm sued Illinois Farmers for a declaration that the “step down” provisions in the Farmers’ automobile policies were unenforceable because they were against public policy. (“Step down” provisions allow the insurer to reduce policy limits when the driver of the insured vehicle…
Recapping the previous two blog entries, a majority of the Illinois Second District Appellate Court held: (1) An amendment to Illinois Supreme Court Rule 303(a) applied retroactively so that a premature Notice of Appeal preserved appellate jurisdiction. (See entry 10/29/07, two below.) (2) Separate postdissolution petitions in a divorce case…
We continue with IRMO Duggan. (For Part One, with an explanation of the case facts, see blog entry of 10/29/07, directly below.) The next question the court took on was whether Tamara’s support petition and Darrell’s petition to set a visitation schedule presented (1) new claims in the same action,…
James Foster claimed he was beaten by Corpsman Kirk Hill at a Naval Training Center. Foster sued Hill in the Illinois state court. Invoking the Westfall Act (United States shall be substituted as a party when a federal employee is sued in tort for actions in course of employment, if…
Glen Dresher appealed from a court’s decision to temporarily release him from co-guardianship of his adult, disabled son. The guardian ad litem for the son moved to dismiss the appeal for lack of appellate jurisdiction. The appellate court agreed with the guardian and dismissed the appeal. The First District Illinois…
Teresa De Bouse brought a class action case against Bayer AG, claiming that Bayer misrepresented Baycol, a pharmaceutical that Bayer marketed to consumers. Teresa’s class certification motion was granted in the trial court. But the trial court clerk neglected to mail the order to the parties. Bayer’s lawyers did not…