An Illinois First District opinion recently ruled that citation to just one case did not prevent waiver of an argument of unjust enrichment. The court stated there was a failure to discuss the relevancy of the case. The failure to cite relevant authority was a violation of Illinois SCR 341,…
Can the Second District Appellate Court review an order issued by the First District? Sure, if it’s an interlocutory order, not law of the case. Here’s what the Second District said about this: “There is but one appellate court … Thus, a panel of the Second District of the Appellate…
A legal malpractice action spawned a dispute over whether a law firm waived crucial arguments concerning due process and damages. The firm did not include those points in its petition for leave to appeal. The Illinois Supreme Court has already ruled that failure to raise an issue in the PLA…
I am writing a series of articles for the DCBA Brief, the journal for the DuPage County, Illinois Bar Association, that we’re calling “Thoughts Of An Unconstrained Practitioner.” The first article, published in November 2006, is titled, “How To Write An Appellate Brief That Judges Want To Read And Answers…
Appeal from orders on post-dissolution of marriage petitions raises precarious problems. Suppose the court rules on a post-dis petition to modify maintenance, but leaves the child support-modification petition pending. Must you file your Notice of Appeal within 30 days of the maintenance ruling, or wait for a ruling on the…
Judge Posner wonders whether the 7th Circuit is these for requiring complete jurisdictional statements in a diversity case. He doesn’t think so, because: . . . the fact that limits on subject matter jurisdiction are not waivable or forfeitable — that federal courts are required to police their jurisdiction —…
Somebody told me that once, referring to appeals. I had raised what I thought and hoped would be an easy question of appellate jurisdiction, and got a long lecture with lots of “but ifs.” And with typical lawyer weaseliness, the conclusion was “perhaps.” Welcome to illinoisappellatelawyerblog.com. We’ll rassle with the…