In this tax dispute, the bank’s brief in the court of appeals contained a 4½-page “Nature of the Case” section. That was “excessive,” according to the Second District Illinois Appellate Court. But the bank’s excessiveness did not interfere with review of the case, so the court declined to strike that…
In this complicated dispute among business partners, a counterclaimant asserted arguments of equitable estoppel and of the mend the hold doctrine. However, those arguments were posed for the first time in a motion for reconsideration of a summary judgment. The First District Illinois Appellate Court ruled that the arguments had…
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…
Carl Brdar, a truck driver, was injured when he tried to tie down an automobile to a cargo trailer. He sued Cottrel, Inc., the trailer manufacturer. Cottrell filed a third-party complaint against Vulcan Chain Corp., a distributor of metal tie-down chains. Vulcan’s motion to dismiss based on the statute of…
Defendant Mortgage Exchange allegedly sent unauthorized faxes to solicit business. Plaintiff CE Design, apparently annoyed at receiving the faxes, sued under the Telephone Consumer Protection Act and the Illinois Consumer Fraud and Deceptive Business Practices Act. CE attempted to make the case a class action, but its motion to certify…
Plaintiff Affordable Housing Preservation Foundation got a permanent injunction against Smith Wiiams in connection with business transactions he took in Affordable’s name. Within 30 days, Wiiams moved to vacate the injunction. But Wiiams’ motion did not detail why the injunction was infirm. The trial court ruled on the motion about…
After a bench trial in absentia, Patricia Wakenight was convicted of possession of a controlled substance with intent to deliver. The arrest was made in April 2000, but Patricia changed lawyers a number of times, and backed out of a plea agreement, so the trial was not completed until July…
Kenneth Stark and Vesta Stark, both elderly, were married. Vesta suffered from Alzheimers disease. Kenneth died and left substantial money to the Southern Illinois University Foundation and the Shriner’s Hospital for Children. The will left nothing to Vesta, but did contain a statement that “adequate and suitable” provisions were made…
Shane Kolody was traveling on Amtrak with $280,000 in small bills. The government seized the money, then sued to keep it pursuant to the Illinois Drug Forfeiture Act. Kolody’s motion to dismiss the State’s amended complaint was denied. But his motion for reconsideration, based on misapplication of the forfeiture law,…
Steve Townsend injured himself when he fell through a hole in the floor of a building he was painting. Much of the pretrial proceedings focused on Townsend’s employment status with the defendants and his worker’s compensation issues. The case was tried to a jury, which returned a verdict of more…