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 …
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Set-off Is Counterclaim; Not Affirmative Defense – IL Court Rules in Partition Suit
Stadnyk v. Nedoshytko, 2017 IL App (1st) 152103-U views the counterclaim-versus-affirmative defense distinction through the prism of a statutory partition suit involving co-owners of a Chicago apartment building. The plaintiff sued to declare the parties’ respective ownership rights in the subject property. After the court issued a partition order finding the plaintiff and defendants had …
Appeals Court Gives Teeth to “Good Faith” Requirement of Accord and Satisfaction Defense
A common cautionary tale recounted in 1L contracts classes involves the crafty debtor who secretly short-pays a creditor by noting “payment in full” on his check. According to the classic “gotcha” vignette, the debtor’s devious conduct forever bars the unwitting creditor from suing the debtor. Whether apocryphal or not (like the one about the newly …