Articles Posted in Dictum

Minimally esteemed author of illinoisappellatelawyerblog.com has been placed on the bloggers’ disabled list. He has been on the shelf since mid-February when a momentary lapse in coordination caused his left typing appendage to fail.

Underwhelmed News Network was first to learn about the injury. Unable to feign a manly attitude, illinoisappellatelawerblog told UNN, “Damn, this hurts a lot.”

Advancing age has lengthened recuperation time, so entries are day-to-day. Illinoisappellatelawyerblog focuses on issues that are important to practitioners in the Illinois appellate courts. “You can’t get enough of this stuff, I know.” the blog said. “I plan to be back in the saddle right soon with regular entries.”

Alex Pajic was injured while driving a truck for his employer. Alex contended that another vehicle caused the accident, but left the scene and never was identified. Alex’s lawsuit against his employer’s insurer, Old Republic Insurance, asked for reformation of the underinsured and the uninsured motorist coverages, and for an award of the limits of those coverages. Alex complained that, contrary to the Illinois Insurance Code, Old Republic did not make a “meaningful offer” of the coverages to the employer.

The trial court ruled that Old Republic complied with the Code, so it gave the insurance company summary judgment. Alex appealed.

The case turned on the interplay among two Illinois Supreme Court cases and a 1990 amendment to the Insurance Code. Alex argued that comments by the Illinois Supreme Court about the amended statute were dictum, and were not controlling, because the case it was deciding involved the pre-1990 amended Code.