Gina Hampton appealed a ruling that terminated her parental rights to her 11-year old child. Hampton wanted an independent opinion after a court-appointed psychologist diagnosed the child with reactive attachment disorder. Among her arguments on appeal was a claim of trial court error by denying her request for an independent…
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…
Lisa Knapp claimed she received negligent medical treatment from her doctors. She sued one of the doctors and the hospital he was affiliated with for medical malpractice. In her complaint, she identified George O’Neil, another of her doctors, as a respondent in discovery. O’Neil proved difficult to serve. Eventually though,…
This case is more about res judicata than appellate jurisdiction, but it teaches an important lesson about final and appealable orders. Jane Doe had a successful in vitro fertilization at a fertility clinic, the Center for Human Reproduction. Two things caused Jane and John (husband) to sue. First, after the…
Patricia Jelinek and Jamie O’Callaghan, both widowed spouses of firemen, disputed whether the Firemen’s Retirement Board awarded them the proper benefit. Their husbands died while they were receiving duty-related benefits for injuries they suffered as firemen. The Board granted them less than they felt they were entitled to, so, as…
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…
A trial court committed Alfred H.H. to the McFarland Mental Health Center in Illinois. Alfred appealed the commitment order. But he was discharged from McFarland while the appeal was pending, so the Illinois Appellate Court dismissed the appeal because it was moot. Alfred appealed the dismissal to the Illinois Supreme…
A group of townhome owners sued Carriageway Builders, the company that built the townhouse, and Carriageway’s owner, Wayne Johnson. Unfortunately, the foundation of the townhouse settled up to 10 inches, causing all sorts of damage to the building. A jury awarded the owners more than $1.3 million. A separate, non-jury…
Rosemary Mackin was unhappy with the trial court’s division of property and the denial of maintenance in her divorce case, so she appealed. The last order by the trial court disallowed child support, but set it “for review after the expiration of 180 days for examination of the financial circumstances…
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…