Finally, some good news. We are now seeing the return of jury trials in the Daley Center. In northern Illinois every suburban county has seen at least one multi-defendant jury trial in the last 60 days. Central Illinois has been conducting jury trials with increasing frequency. Federal court is also planning for the return of civil jury trials next month. ITLA has been following the progress of civil juries statewide. The data we have compiled showing the safe return of trials will continue to be used as evidence to support their safe and rapid return where it meets resistance. Thank you to everyone who sent in information about their own recent jury trials and what and which COVID-19 precautions were instituted.

The light at the end of the tunnel is here. After months of lockdowns and other safety precautions which precluded jury trials from occurring with any real frequency, the doors to the courthouse are re-opening. Just last week our Supreme Court issued two orders designed at re-activating circuit courts. One order removed the tolling of the computation for speedy trials in criminal cases, and the other (M.R. 30370) empowered the chief circuit judges to relax or eliminate social distance requirements based upon local conditions.

What a difference a year, and a pandemic, can make. This time last year, we were two months into a pandemic that changed our practices, our lives, and our world as we knew it. Hospitals were filled to capacity with sick patients, restaurants and non-essential businesses were closed by executive order, and jury trials, the driving force in our pursuit of justice for our clients, came to a resounding halt. While the challenges were like none other seen in the last 100 years, we are now beginning to see a light at the end of the tunnel. COVID-19 vaccines are now widely available, with a reported 50% of the population having been vaccinated. While the Illinois Department of Public Health has reported the astounding number of 22,739 COVID-19 fatalities and 1,380,261 COVID-19 cases in Illinois, as of May 28th, the seven-day statewide COVID-19 positivity rate of 1.9 percent, is one of the lowest recorded.

SCOTUS rules accident victims may sue Ford in state courts
In an a unanimous decision, the Supreme Court ruled “that the Ford Motor Co. can be sued in the state courts by people who were killed or seriously injured in accidents involving Ford vehicles.” The Court “rejected the Michigan-based company’s argument that its ties to Minnesota and Montana were too tenuous to allow it to be sued in those states by accident victims.” 

Fellow Trial Lawyers & Friends,

It was just over one year ago, on March 11, 2020, that life as we knew it came to a screeching halt! On that day, came the announcement that we were in the midst of a global COVID-19 pandemic, the likes of which had not been seen in the last 100 years. As a result of this crisis, our lives, our practices and our country as we knew them would be shut down for the foreseeable future...

News & Notes
Battle Over Rideshare Worker Classification Continues: New York Supreme Court Holds Uber Drivers Are Employees, Entitled to Unemployment Insurance
The New York Supreme Court has “found Uber to be liable for unemployment insurance contributions with respect to drivers at issue.” In Matter of Lowry, no. 530395, the Court held that facts existed to establish that “Uber controls the drivers’ access to their customers, calculates and collects the fares and sets the drivers’ rate of compensation […]

The following legislation of interest to ITLA members passed both chambers of the Illinois General Assembly in the final days of the 101st General Assembly and will go to the Governor for his signature.

HB 3360 Prejudgment Interest.
This bill entitles plaintiffs in personal injury and wrongful death cases to be awarded prejudgment interest, at a rate of 9%, from the date of injury through the date of judgment. For pending cases, the accrual of prejudgment interest will begin...

Fellow Trial Lawyers and Friends,
The year 2020 has been, and continues to be, one for the record books. The last nine months have proven incredibly challenging for our clients, our members, and our practices. Despite ITLA’s exploration of a “way out” and a return to jury trials, the deadly impact of the Coronavirus has thwarted our efforts at every turn. We are not alone in this regard. While there have been sporadic jury trials here and there across the country with masks, shields and various forms of PPE,...

Fellow Trial Lawyers and Friends,

The year 2020 continues to be a year like no other. The Covid-19 pandemic has altered the way we conduct virtually every aspect of our daily lives. And . . . the end is not in sight.

In densely populated communities like Cook County, jury trials – the centerpiece of what we do as trial lawyers – have come to a halt, delaying justice for our clients. That justice delayed feels like justice denied. Yet, while we are anxious to get back to trying cases and seeking justice for our clients, we must not forget that Covid-19 has killed over 220,000 Americans...

The year 2020 is shaping up to be one for the history books. Never in a million years could we have ever contemplated facing a time when our courthouses, our cases and much of our lives as we knew them, would come to a screeching halt. Who among us would have ever thought an international health crisis, a pandemic, would sweep the world. That a real life “Contagion,” as depicted in the 2011 film of the same name, would sicken the world, and our country would be so ill prepared that our citizens would need to shelter-in-place to “flatten” the curve...