Ill. Tort Reform Could See Summer Victory

By Steve Tuckey

NU Online News Service, Dec. 22, 11:25 a.m.EST?While tort reform advocates were dismayed by a recentnegative recommendation vote by the Illinois State Bar Associationthat would have reformed the class action process, they are hopefulfor ultimate victory this summer from the state SupremeCourt.[@@]

Earlier this month the ISBA rejected adoption of Rule 225 thatgoverns class action suits and is modeled after federal law.

Laura Kotelman, senior counsel for the Property CasualtyInsurers Association of America, Des Plains, Ill., said Illinoisdoes not have a provision requiring that a class action lawsuit be"superior" to other methods for fair and efficient resolution of aclaim.

Rule 225 would not only provide such a provision but it wouldsuggest to Illinois courts that they should not certify classesthat substantially involve residents and laws of other states.

"We need to defeat the perception that this is the place for?out-of-state' lawyers to seek a national law through Illinoiscourthouses," Ms. Kotelman said.

The American Tort Reform Association has named two counties inIllinois?Madison and St. Clair?so-called "judicial hellholes" intheir ability to attract out-of-state class action lawsuits.

During the recent election, Illinois voters backed tort reformadvocate Lloyd Karmeier for a state Supreme Court seat defeatingDemocrat Gordon Maag in the fifth district.

"This district has long been a haven for frivolous andunwarranted class action suits," Ms. Kotelman noted.

The Supreme Court Rules Committee is expected to make a decisionsometime in 2005.