Rule 103(b): Plaintiff’s Year-Long Delay In Serving Lawsuit Merits Dismissal For Lack of Diligence – IL 1st Dist.

Illinois Supreme Court Rule 103(b) requires a plaintiff to exercise diligence in serving a defendant.  The rule is based on the principle that litigation should have an end-date and not languish.  Rule 103(b) also heightens the probability that suits will be resolved when the underlying facts are fresh in the minds of the parties and …

“Never Ending”(?) Contract Still Definite Enough to Be Enforced – 7th Circuit

Burford v. Accounting Practice Sales, Inc. 2015 WL2261108 (7th Cir. 2015), deftly handles some tricky and recurring contract interpretation and enforcement issues that arise where a business agreement lacks a clear end date. In the case, the plaintiff sued defendant for terminating a written year-to-year (and automatically renewing) contract for the plaintiff to market defendant’s accounting …

Legal Malpractice Claims: Elements and Damages: Illinois Case Snippets (2015)

Two First District cases – one published, the other not – decided some eight days apart in April 2015, provide good capsule summaries of the pleading and proof elements of a legal malpractice claim in Illinois, the nature and reach of the attorney-client relationship (“A-C Relationship”) and the universe of possible damages that a plaintiff …