David Wilson was in custody on a warrant for two felonies. A police detective shot Wilson while he was in an interview room at the Chicago police headquarters. Wilson sued the city and the detective. After trial, a jury ruled in favor of the city and the detective. Within 30…
Most good-writing books suffer from a sleep-inducing sameness. Often smug and condescending, they tell you what to do and what not to do ― be concise; avoid verbosity, especially the dreaded legalese; use active verbs; don’t write passive sentences, unless of course you’re smart enough to know when to break…
Donald Cookson sued Todd Price, a physical therapy assistant, and the Institute for Physical Medicine, Price’s employer, for medical malpractice. As required by an Illinois statute, Cookson filed an affidavit and a report by a physician swearing to Price’s malpractice. But Price claimed the affidavit did not comply with the…
This posting is not strictly about appellate practice, but it’s worthwhile to read here because it answers the question of how long you have after a final order is entered to ask the trial court for attorney fees. And how long do you have to request fees after the trial…
A trial court ruled Benjamin Hernandez was a sexually violent person. Before he could be released from prison, the Illinois Sexually Violent Commitment Act required an outpatient facility to write a conditional release plan. The court ordered the plan to be written, but two years later, it still had not…
Timothy Cooper stole Terry Williams’s car. When Cooper tried to get away, he ran the car into Nikola Pritza’s car. Pritza, a police officer with the Village of Lansing, Illinois, injured his neck in the crash. He filed for and received Workers’ Compensation benefits. A series of lawsuits and letters…
This case is getting around. If you missed it, you should know about Abner v. Scott Memorial Hospital, an opinion out of the 7th Circuit Appellate Court. The court ordered Abner to show cause why she should not be sanctioned for filing a brief longer than allowed by the rules…
Parkway Bank and Trust filed a lawsuit to foreclose on a construction mortgage. Beta Electric, one of the defendants, counterclaimed and argued its mechanic’s lien had priority over Parkway’s mortgage. Parkway asked the trial court for judgment on Beta’s counterclaim. Beta’s brief in opposition to the motion was late by…
Appellate lawyers are belt-and–suspenders types. We read the rules; then re-read the rules; then just to be sure, read them again. We check our cites; re-check our cites; then just to be sure, check them again. We agonize over the legal briefs we write. And for good reason: more than…
John Walsh was the president of his condominium association. Certain members of the association felt the developer committed fraud in connection with the conversion of the apartment building to a condominium. So the association sued the developer. Two companies and two individuals were involved in the condo conversion – Sixty…