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 recent negative recommendation vote by the Illinois State Bar Association that would have reformed the class action process, they are hopeful for ultimate victory this summer from the state Supreme Court.[@@]

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

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

Rule 225 would not only provide such a provision but it would suggest to Illinois courts that they should not certify classes that 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 Illinois courthouses," Ms. Kotelman said.

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

During the recent election, Illinois voters backed tort reform advocate Lloyd Karmeier for a state Supreme Court seat defeating Democrat Gordon Maag in the fifth district.

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

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

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Ill. Tort Reform Could See Summer Victory

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