A commercial guaranty dispute provides the background for the First District’s recent discussion of some signature litigation issues including the voluntary (versus compulsory) payment rule and how that impacts an appeal, the business records hearsay exception, and governing standards for the recovery of attorneys fees. The lender plaintiff in Northbrook Bank & Trust Co. v. …
Author Archives: PaulP
7th Circuit Takes Archaic Hearsay Exceptions to Judicial Woodshed
Decrying them as flawed “folk psychology” with dubious philosophical underpinnings, the Seventh Circuit recently took two venerable hearsay exceptions to task in the course of affirming a felon’s conviction on a Federal weapons charge. In U.S. v. Boyce (here), the Court affirmed the trial court’s admission of a 911 call recording and transcript into evidence …
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Shortened ‘Arb Award’ Rejection Deadline Upheld Against Constitutional Attack – IL Appeals Court
The First District appeals court recently nixed a plaintiff’s constitutional challenge to a local rule’s arbitration rejection deadline. The opinion’s upshot is clear: when a supreme court rule conflicts with a statute, the rule wins. The plaintiff in McBreen v. Mercedes-Benz, USA, LLC argued her equal protection and due process rights were violated when a …