Authors: James Dunlop, Tara Fumerton
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- Here's why Netanyahu's court overhaul brought Israel to the brink - NPR Illinois
- “BIPA Win For Union Employers: Union Employees' BIPA Claims Are ... - Lexology
- The First Criminal Conviction Based on Fingerprint Evidence - DISCOVER Magazine
- Fingerprinting employees could cause Illinois businesses billions - Coda Story
- Man in prison for stabbing death of Edwardsville attorney wants to withdraw guilty plea - Belleville News-Democrat
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- The role of politics in where students want to go to college - Inside Higher Ed
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Challenges to Illinois Gun Control Policy: People v. Aguilar – Podcast
Criminal Law & Procedure Practice Group Podcast, September 20, 2013
Featuring: Nelson Lund, Dean A. Reuter
Media & Commentary
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A Recent History of Medical Malpractice and Civil Justice Reform in Illinois: The Five Year Wait for the Supreme Court to Decide the Fate of Reform in LEBRON V. GOTTLIEB MEMORIAL HOSPITAL
Recently, the Illinois Supreme Court ruled on the validity of the bipartisan Medical Malpractice Reform Act of 2005.1 The last effort to enact civil justice reform occurred in 1995 when a Republican majority controlled the Illinois General Assembly and the Governorship. That General Assembly promulgated several civil reforms and bundled a hard cap on noneconomic damages inside a larger omnibus bill. At the time, the Illinois civil justice reforms were considered the most comprehensive tort reform to be enacted by any state legislature. A Cook County trial judge ruled the legislation unconstitutional almost immediately after its effective date. On appeal from Cook County, the Illinois Supreme Court ruled in Best v. Taylor Machine Works2 that the caps on noneconomic damages were an infringement of the separation of powers and the bar on “special legislation” and struck the entire tort reform package. In doing so, the supreme court considered a severability clause meant to preserve the other tort reforms in the legislation and determined that the parts that were unconstitutional could not be severed from those remaining.