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Appellate Law

Illinois Appellate Lawyer Blog

Covers Appellate Advocacy, Constitutional Analysis, Cross-Appeal, Federal Appellate Rules, Illinois Supreme Court Rules, Interlocutory Appeals, and Podcasts.
By Steven R. Merican

Post Frequency: 4.3/day

Last Entry: April 11, 2013 at 13:53:13

Posner On Effective Appellate Briefs

Posted on April 11, 2013
Catching up on reading. If you missed it too, here is Judge Posner in the American Bar Association's Litigation News on writing an effective appellate brief.

Appellate Court Refuses Jurisdiction Over Order Quashing Lis Pendens

Posted on April 07, 2013
The Westin North Shore is a hotel in the northern suburbs of Chicago. The hotel was used as collateral for a multimillion dollar loan to the hotel owner. Five Mile Capital Westin had a subordinate interest in the loan. After the owner defaulted on his payments, Berkadia National Mortgage was named as special servicer of the hotel...

Can't Reverse Hormones -- Flirting Appellate Lawyers

Posted on March 22, 2013
Love at first cite. Thanks to FutureLawyer.com and cartoonist Charles Fincher at Lawcomix.blogspot.com.

No Appellate Jurisdiction For Homeowner?s Appeal Of Summary Judgment Foreclosure

Posted on March 16, 2013
Barbara Kemp?s mortgage was held by EMC Mortgage Corporation. EMC filed a foreclosure action against Barbara because she defaulted on her payments. Eventually, EMC asked for and got a summary judgment foreclosure. Kemp then asked for reconsideration of the summary judgment and for a stay of the judicial sale of the property...

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Police Union?s Appeal Mooted By Officer?s Settlement

Posted on March 03, 2013
Melissa Ramskugler had passed Wisconsin?s requirements to qualify as a police officer, but was still in the probationary period required by the Milwaukee Board of Fire & Police Commissioners. Knee injuries prevented her from finishing probation. She was fired because her medical condition prevented her from getting through probation...

Subpoena In Plot-To-Kill-Former-Wife Case Gets Full Appellate Review Despite No Opposing Brief

Posted on February 20, 2013
Carolyn Mahoney sued her former husband, Billy J. Cox, and his lawyer, Marc Gummerson, for plotting to kill her. Cox was in jail, so Mahoney served the Illinois Department of Corrections with a subpoena to find out information about the plot. The DOC asked the trial court to quash the subpoena because the documents Mahoney wanted contained the name of a confidential informant...

Lessor?s Affidavit Supporting Reconsideration Request Ignored By Appellate Court

Posted on January 29, 2013
Urban Sites of Chicago leased property to Crown Castle USA and T-Mobile USA. The parties had a disagreement about the terms of the lease, so Urban sued Crown and T-Mobile. Crown and T-Mobile counter-sued Urban. Crown and T-Mobile asked for summary judgment, which the trial court granted...

Implied-In-Fact Contract Reviewed By Manifest?Weight-Of-The-Evidence

Posted on January 23, 2013
While still married to John, Betsy D?Attomo began developing a bakery. John and Betsy financed the bakery partly with money from a home equity loan. The couple decided to divorce. At the divorce trial, John claimed the money from the home equity loan was a loan to the bakery that must be paid back...

Summary Judgment For Illinois Hospital On Actual Agency In Medical Malpratice Case Not A Final Order

Posted on January 15, 2013
Brandon Wilson required surgery for a fractured femur. He had a heart attack during surgery, which resulted in brain injury from lack of oxygen. Brandon sued Edward Hospital, where the surgery was done, and the doctors who treated him there. To win against the hospital, Brandon had to show that the doctors were the hosptal?s actual or apparent agents...

Illinois Appellate Lawyer Blog Is Back To It

Posted on January 07, 2013
? Say hey illinoisappellatelawyerblog. Where have you been? What have you been doing? ? Oh, over there. Picking daisies, chewing tobacco, napping, hiding. You know, getting better. ? Better than what? ? Just better. ? We thought you were closing shop...

Death Of Fireman?s Widow Does Not Moot Her Appeal Of Retroactive Annuity Benefits

Posted on September 15, 2012
Michael Hooker suffered a debilitating injury while working for the Chicago Fire Department. After he died two years later, his widow, Elaine, applied to the Retirement Board of the Firemen's Annuity and Benefit Fund for widow?s benefits. She was awarded a minimum annuity, but she felt the Board did not include all of the money she was entitled to when calculating the amount of the annuity...

One Notice Of Appeal Gives Appellate Jurisdiction Over 32 Plaintiff Appeals in Truck-Train Collision Case

Posted on September 07, 2012
A proliferation of lawsuits was filed after a collision between a truck carrying a load of metal rebar and an Amtrak passenger train. A number of passengers were injured, and some died in the accident. Cases by 32 passengers or their representatives were filed in Illinois state court...

Tax Preparer Waives Choice-Of-Law Argument In NonCompete Clause Appeal

Posted on September 05, 2012
Zabaneh Franchises bought an H&R Block tax preparation franchise. The purchase included ?all interest in the employment and noncompetition agreements with H&R Block?s employees.? Terri Walker had been employed by H&R, but claimed she did not have an employment agreement with Zabaneh...

Continuing Confusion About Appellate Jurisdiction In Illinois Post-Dissolution Divorce Proceedings

Posted on July 30, 2012
Elizabeth Demaret got a better job in New Jersey, so she wanted to move there from Illinois with her children. She had sole custody of her four children. James, her ex-husband, had parenting time in accord with a parenting agreement that an Illinois trial court incorporated into the divorce judgment...

Refusal To Modify Divorce Judgment Not Appealable Because Of Other Pending Issues

Posted on July 21, 2012
Arthur and Shirley Susman got divorced. The divorce judgment incorporated a marital settlement agreement, which reserved two subjects to be resolved later: (1) certain tax liabilities, and (2) allocation of certain personal property. A few months later, Arthur asked the trial court to modify the judgment...

Injured Party?s Appeal Dismissed For Violations Of Appellate Brief-Writing Rules

Posted on July 15, 2012
Peggy Lee Hall claimed she was injured when she slipped on ice in a parking lot owned by Naper Gold Hospitality LLC. She sued Naper, but the company got summary judgment because Hall did not show facts that there had been an unnatural accumulation of ice...

Appeal Dismissed In Whistle Blower Case Against Illinois University

Posted on June 03, 2012
Robert Van Der Hooning, formerly an assistant dean at the University of Illinois, sued the university?s board of trustees and four officials of the university for violations of the Illinois State Officials and Employees Ethics Act. Van Der Hooning?s lawsuit originally was filed in the Illinois Court of Claims...

Father Successfully Appeals Termination Of Parental Rights

Posted on May 20, 2012
Ralph L?s baby, Haley, was born with a cocaine addiction. When Haley was released from the hospital, the State of Illinois took her into protective custody and placed her with foster parents. The State also filed a lawsuit asking that Haley be made a ward of the court...

Emergency Worker?s Late Appeal Against Hospital Dismissed

Posted on April 30, 2012
Edward Dus, an ambulance driver, injured his knee when he was moving a patient at the emergency room at Provena St. Mary?s Hospital. He claimed he was injured by a laundry cart being pushed by a Provena employee. Dus sued Provena. A jury awarded Dus $300,000, which was cut in half because he also was found to be 50 percent at fault for the accident...

Real Estate Broker?s Appeal Dismissed For Lack Of Compliance With Local E-Filing Rules

Posted on April 20, 2012
While their divorce case was pending, Robert and Cindy Andrews signed a listing agreement to sell their house. The real estate broker, VC&M, found a buyer. But the Andrewses rejected the offer, which was for less than their asking price. Instead, Cindy decided to stay in the house, so she agreed to purchase Robert?s half...

Appellate Jurisdiction Okay Despite Incomplete Notice Of Appeal

Posted on April 07, 2012
Diane Borchers was the food service director at Mayslake Village, a senior citizen housing facility. Borchers used the company email system to communicate with vendors and other Mayslake employees. While she was on disability leave, two Mayslake employees accessed some of Borchers?s personal emails...

Pending Appeal Of Judgment Not A Bar To Adjudication Of Attorney?s Lien; Insufficient Record Dooms Appeal

Posted on March 31, 2012
Richard Moenning was injured when he got off a passenger railroad car. He sued Union Pacifc Railroad Company, the operator of the train, for negligence and for willful and wanton misconduct. Union Pacific got a directed verdict on the willful and wanton claim...

Two Tips ? Author Guberman Gives Two Brief-Writing Tips And Links To More

Posted on March 23, 2012
These two tips are from Ross Guberman, the president of Legal Writing Pro and the author of Point Made: How to Write Like the Nation's Top Advocates. Ross also is an Appellatology panelist. His short bio is here. These Two Tips, with examples, are drawn from the brief for the states signed by Paul Clement in the ?Obamacare? case...

Sierra Club Appeal Of Delisted Contaminant Dismissed For Lack Of Standing

Posted on March 19, 2012
The Peoria Disposal Co. had a permit from the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency to operate a storage and treatment site for hazardous waste. The company asked the Illinois Pollution Control Board to delist (exclude from regulation) electric arc furnace dust...

How The Illinois Appellate Court Reviews Personal Jurisdiction

Posted on March 13, 2012
Here is a nice, concise statement of how the Illinois Appellate Court reviews the personal jurisdiction of the trial court. When the trial court decides a jurisdictional question solely on the basis of documentary evidence and without an evidentiary hearing, as it did here, then the question is reviewed de novo on appeal...

City?s Appeal Of Nixed Land Deal With Religious School Untimely And Moot

Posted on March 11, 2012
A group of citizens sued the City of South Bend, Indiana to prevent the city from giving land to a Catholic high school. The citizens claimed that giving the high school land was a gift of property to a religious institution, and violated the U.S. Constitution?s First Amendment?s establishment clause...

De Novo Standard Applies To Contempt For Failure To Produce Privileged Documents

Posted on February 07, 2012
Center Partners v. Growth Head grew out of a complex asset purchase agreement. The question in this opinion concerned whether Westfield, one of the parties involved in the agreement, had waived the attorney-client privilege during negotiations and had to produce documents in connection with the waived subject...

Illinois Appellate Lawyer Blog Launches ?Two Tips?

Posted on January 23, 2012
Always thinking about you and devising unique reading and viewing experiences for our audience, Illinois Appellate Lawyer Blog announces a new series: ??? Two Tips ??? Two Tips, offered by legal writing and strategy experts, will suggest ways you can improve your brief writing...

Debtors? Victory Affirmed; Creditor Forfeits Procedural Argument

Posted on January 21, 2012
Mutual Management Services took an assignment of debts Richard and Kimberly Swalve allegedly owed to three medical providers. Mutual sued the Swalves for the money. But the Swalves asked the court to dismiss because, they asserted, facts existed that undercut Mutual?s complaint as a matter of law...

Hospital?s Summary Judgment Denial Considered By Illinois Supreme Court

Posted on January 17, 2012
Timothy Clark suffers from Angelman?s Syndrome, a genetic defect. His parents sued a number of parties, including Children?s Memorial Hospital, for wrongful birth and negligent infliction of emotional distress. While the Clarks? first amended complaint was pending, Children?s Memorial asked the trial court for summary judgment...

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