OPINION PRESIDING JUSTICE LAMPKIN delivered the judgment of the court, with opinion. 1 Plaintiff, Therese Wells, appeals the trial court's order granting summary judgment in favor of defendants, Colonial Heights Recreation Center, Inc. (CHRC), and Erickson Condominium Management Company (Erickson). Plaintiff contends the trial court erred in granting summary judgment where there were genuine issues of material fact regarding defendants' negligence. Based on the following, we reverse and...
OPINION PRESIDING JUSTICE LAMPKIN delivered the judgment of the court, with opinion. 1 Plaintiff, Hawthorne Race Course, Inc. (Hawthorne), appeals the circuit court's ruling upholding the decision of defendant, the Illinois Racing Board (Board), in interpreting the Illinois Horse Racing Act of 1975 (Racing Act) (230 ILCS 5/54.75 (West 2010)). Plaintiff contends the Board erred in concluding that the percentage of the Horse Racing Equity Trust Fund (Fund) payable to each eligible licensee...
OPINION JUSTICE SPENCE, delivered the judgment of the court, with opinion. 1 Plaintiff, Blanche Richter, filed suit against defendant, the College of Du Page (the College), after falling on an uneven sidewalk. The College raised an affirmative defense under sections 2-109 and 2-201 of the Local Governmental and Governmental Employees Tort Immunity Act (Tort Immunity Act) (745 ILCS 10/2-109, 2-201 (West 2010)) and moved for summary judgment. At issue is whether the handling of the sidewalk...
OPINION PRESIDING JUSTICE GORDON, delivered the judgment of the court, with opinion. 1 Plaintiffs, Jenna R.P. (Jenna) and E. Scott P. (Scott), as her guardian and next friend, appeal an order of the circuit court of Cook County which found in favor of defendants City of Chicago School District No. 229 (District) and the Illinois State Board of Education (Board), denying plaintiffs reimbursement of Jenna's tuition and expenses for her placement at a private boarding school. For the following...
OPINION Panel PRESIDING JUSTICE HOWSE delivered the judgment of the court, with opinion. 1 Plaintiff, Jo Ann Abruzzo, as independent administrator of the estate of Joseph Furio, deceased, filed a complaint and first amended complaint for wrongful death, survival, and family expenses against defendant, the City of Park Ridge (Park Ridge or the City). The complaint arose from the City's response to a request for emergency services (9-1-1 call) by decedent's father, Larry Furio, for his son...
OPINION PRESIDING JUSTICE HOWSE delivered the judgment of the court, with opinion. 1 The issue presented in this case is whether a provision in a contract for the sale of four shopping centers, which required that $4.3 million of the purchase price be held in escrow from the seller's proceeds then be paid to the seller only if certain conditions are timely met, is enforceable as a liquidated damages clause or is unenforceable as a penalty. 2 In a $117 million transaction, plaintiffs GK...
OPINION JUSTICE MASON delivered the judgment of the court, with opinion. 1 Petitioner Board of Education of the City of Chicago (Board) seeks direct administrative review of the finding of the Illinois Educational Labor Relations Board (IELRB) that it committed an unfair labor practice when it refused to release student records during a grievance proceeding arising out of the Board's termination of a member of the Service Employees International Union, Local 73 (Union). On direct appeal to...
OPINION PRESIDING JUSTICE QUINN, delivered the judgment of the court, with opinion. 1 Following a jury trial, respondent Mark Melcher was found to be a sexually violent person (SVP) under the Sexually Violent Persons Commitment Act (Act) (725 ILCS 207/1 et seq. (West 2012)), then committed to the custody of the Illinois Department of Human Services (DHS). On appeal, respondent contends: (1) that he was denied the right to present a defense when the trial court barred him from calling lay...
OPINION Justice HARRIS delivered the judgment of the court, with opinion. 1 Plaintiff, St. Paul Mercury Insurance, as subrogee of Mallers Building Limited Partnership, and J. Richman and Spectrum Properties, Inc. (Mallers), brought a complaint against defendant Aargus Security Systems, Inc. (Aargus), alleging that Aargus, as security provider for the "Mallers Building," owned by subragors, negligently allowed the delivery of a propane tank that subsequently caused an explosion in the...
OPINION JUSTICE STEIGMANN delivered the judgment of the court, with opinion. 1 Plaintiff, Seth P. Uphoff, the Livingston County State's Attorney, appeals from the trial court's order granting summary judgment in favor of defendant, Matthew Grosskopf. The court ordered Uphoff to produce documents to Grosskopf pursuant to his request under the Freedom of Information Act (hereinafter FOIA) (5 ILCS 140/1 to 11.5 (West 2010)). For the reasons that follow, we reverse. 2 I. BACKGROUND 3 In...
OPINION Justice HOFFMAN delivered the judgment of the court, with opinion. 1 The petitioners, Daniel A. Danhauer and Deborah L. Supis, as executors of the estate of Daniel J. Danhauer, deceased, appeal the circuit court order which denied their petition to substitute the judge under section 2-1001(a)(3) of the Code of Civil Procedure (Code) (735 ILCS 5/2-1001(a)(3) (West 2012)) and granted summary judgment under section 2-1005 of the Code (735 ILCS 5/2-1005 (West 2012)) in favor of the...
OPINION Justice PALMER delivered the judgment of the court, with opinion. 1 Plaintiff Windmill Nursing Pavilion, Ltd., brought a class action against Unitherm, Inc., for sending unsolicited faxed advertisements to Windmill and the class members on several occasions. Windmill, Unitherm, and Unitherm's insurer, Cincinnati Insurance Company, eventually settled the class action case for $7 million, and Cincinnati agreed to provide an initial $3 million settlement fund from the insurance...
OPINION Justice NEVILLE delivered the judgment of the court, with opinion. 1 This case involves a postconviction petitioner's right to discovery. A jury found Anthony Jakes guilty of murder, based largely on a confession Jakes signed after questioning by Detectives Michael Kill and Kenneth Boudreau. Jakes testified that he signed the statement because Kill beat him and threatened him while Boudreau watched. Kill and Boudreau denied that they beat or threatened Jakes. The jury and the trial...
OPINION Presiding Justice QUINN delivered the judgment of the court, with opinion. 1 The question before this court on appeal is whether a challenge to an ordinance creating a special service area (SSA) under article 27 of the Property Tax Code (Code) (35 ILCS 200/art. 27 (West 2010)) must be brought pursuant to the provisions of the Code. The circuit court in this case held that it must and dismissed plaintiff Raymond Hawkins' first amended class action complaint (amended complaint)...
OPINION Justice HARRIS delivered the judgment of the court, with opinion. 1 Respondent, Ronald L. Chez, appeals the order of the circuit court entering judgment on the dissolution of his marriage to petitioner Katherine L. Chez (now known as Katherine Malkin). On appeal, Ronald contends that the trial court (1) erred in finding that the joint property provision of the parties' premarital agreement was clear and unambiguous, where the agreement was silent on how to apportion costs when...
OPINION Justice McLAREN delivered the judgment of the court, with opinion. 1 Plaintiff, Kim L. Edwards, appeals from the trial court's orders: (1) denying her motion to consolidate this case with another pending case, before a single judge; and (2) denying her complaint for administrative review and affirming the decision of defendant the Board of Trustees of the Addison Fire Protection District Firefighters' Pension Fund (Board). We affirm. 2 I. BACKGROUND 3 Edwards was employed as a...
OPINION Justice EPSTEIN delivered the judgment of the court, with opinion. 1 Respondents Dwain J. Kyles and Calvin Hollins, Jr., owned and operated a first-floor restaurant (Epitome) and second-floor nightclub (Epitome 2 or E2) at 2347 South Michigan Avenue in Chicago, Illinois. On July 19, 2002, the circuit court ordered respondents to vacate the second floor because of building code violations. They continued to operate E2 until February 17, 2003, when 21 people were crushed to death in a...
OPINION 1 I. INTRODUCTION 2 Plaintiff, James W. Kadlec (plaintiff), an executor of an estate, filed a legal malpractice action against the estate's attorney, Sara E. Sumner (Sumner), alleging the attorney failed to timely file the estate's federal and state estate tax returns which caused damage to the estate. The attorney for the estate then filed a third-party complaint against certain accountants for contribution alleging accounting malpractice. All accountants denied being retained...
OPINION Justice NEVILLE delivered the judgment of the court, with opinion. 1 Two organizations whose members include African-Americans and Hispanics sued the City of Chicago (City), alleging a violation of the Illinois Civil Rights Act (Act) (740 ILCS 23/5 (West 2012)), and seeking a change in the way the City responds to emergency calls to 911. The organizations alleged that, on average, persons in neighborhoods populated mostly by African-Americans and Hispanics wait longer than persons...
OPINION JUSTICE O'BRIEN delivered the judgment of the court, with opinion. 1 Plaintiff Dorene O'Connor filed this action against defendant Country Mutual Insurance Company alleging that it unreasonably and vexatiously failed to settle her underinsured motorist insurance claim. The trial court entered judgment in favor of Country Mutual, finding that O'Connor did not prove that County Mutual engaged in unreasonable and vexatious conduct. O'Connor appealed. We affirm. 2 FACTS 3...
