The Illinois Supreme Court recently reversed the appellate court and dismissed Jennifer Keener’s appeal. Jennifer sued the City of Herrin on behalf of Chelsea Keener’s estate. Chelsea had been taken into custody by Herrin police for unlawful consumption of alcohol. After the police let Chelsea leave, she was struck by…
Articles Posted in Illinois Supreme Court Rules
End-Of-Paragraph Fact Cites Comply With Illinois Supreme Court Rules
Charles Gaston sued the City of Danville, Illinois for the wrongful death of his son. Charles appealed after the trial court entered summary judgment in favor of the city. The record citations in the fact section of the city’s appellate brief were placed at the end of each paragraph, rather…
Premature Notice Of Appeal Deprives Court Of Jurisdiction To Review Conditional Release Of Sexually Violent Person
Benjamin Hernandez, adjudicated to be a sexually violent person under the Illinois Sexually Violent Persons Commitment Act, was placed on conditional release. The State appealed, but filed its notice of appeal before the trial court approved the conditional release plan. Nor did the State file a new notice of appeal…
Forum Non Conveniens Dismissal Not A Final Order; Appealable By Petition, Not Notice Of Appeal
Dennis and Kimberly Quaids’ newborn twins were hospitalized at Cedars-Sanai Hospital in Los Angeles, California for a staph infection. The babies were given Heparin instead of Hep-Lock, as was prescribed by the physician. The Quaids settled a claim against the hospital before a lawsuit was filed. They sued Baxter Healthcare…
Pending Motion To Disqualify Attorney Deprives Appellate Court Of Jurisdiction To Consider Custody Order
Neringa Valkiunas and Jeffrey Olsen were in a protracted custody battle. Neringa first appealed from a custody modification order that made Jeffrey residential custodian. That first appeal was dismissed by the Second District Illinois Appellate Court because, when the appeal was filed, two civil contempt petitions were pending in the…
Order On Partial Fee Petition Not Appealable. Merits Panel Dismissal Trumps Motion Panel.
Michael Gagliardo died in a racing-car accident. Paulette (sister) and Margaret (wife) administered Michael’s estate. They hired Quinlan & Carroll to investigate whether the estate could sue for wrongful death. Paulette later hired Duane Morris, another law firm, to open an estate in court. Duane Morris was on the job…
Illinois Supreme Court Refuses To Consider Forfeiture Argument Because Appellate Court Briefs Not In The Record
Michael Ready was killed at a work site when a wooden truss that was being rigged for scaffolding fell eight floors and struck him. Michael’s widow, Terry, as administrator of Michael’s estate, sued the contractor, BMW Constructors, and United/Goedecke Services, the scaffolding subcontractor. After BMW and United filed third-party complaints…
Public Defender Cannot Appeal Partial Dismissal But Wins Certified Interlocutory Appeal
Edwin Burnette, the Public Defender of Cook County, sued Todd Stroger, President of the Cook County Board of Commissioners. Burnette was angry because Stroger selected personnel in the Public Defender’s Office to be laid off and imposed unpaid furlough days on other employees in the office. Burnette claimed he was…
Appeal Of Post-Judgment Motion Not Saved By Rule 303
Bridgette Glickman, owner of a condominium unit, fell on ice in a stairway at the condo building. She sustained multiple fractures to her ankle. Among others, she sued the condominium association for negligent maintenance of the stairway. The trial court dismissed Glickman’s complaint against the association because the accident happened…
No Appellate Standing For Knox County Employees Being Investigated; Appellate Court Lacks Supervisory Authority To Order A Special Prosecutor On Remand
This lawsuit grows from a political fight in Knox County, Illinois. After he took office as Knox County State’s Attorney, John Pepmeyer began an investigation into “improprieties” by current and former county employees of the county state’s attorney’s and sheriff’s offices. Two Assistant State’s Attorneys, Dean Stone and Michael Kraycinovich,…