(750 ILCS 90/65)

Sec. 65. Limits of privilege.

(a) There is no privilege under Section 55 for a collaborative process communication that is:

(1) available to the public under the Freedom of Information Act or made during a session of a collaborative process that is open, or is required by law to be open, to the public;

(2) a threat or statement of a plan to inflict bodily injury or commit a crime of violence as defined in Section 1-10 of the Substance Use Disorder Act;

(3) intentionally used to plan a crime, commit or attempt to commit a crime, or conceal an ongoing crime or ongoing criminal activity; or

(4) in an agreement resulting from the collaborative process, evidenced by a record signed by all parties to the agreement.

(b) The privileges under Section 55 for a collaborative process communication do not apply to the extent that a communication is:

(1) sought or offered to prove or disprove a claim or complaint of professional misconduct or malpractice arising from or related to a collaborative process; or

(2) sought or offered to prove or disprove abuse, neglect, abandonment, or exploitation of a child or adult.

(c) There is no privilege under Section 55 if a court finds, after a hearing in camera, that the party seeking discovery or the proponent of the evidence has shown the evidence is not otherwise available, the need for the evidence substantially outweighs the interest in protecting confidentiality, and the collaborative process communication is sought or offered in:

(1) a court proceeding involving a felony or misdemeanor; or

(2) a proceeding seeking rescission or reformation of a contract arising out of the collaborative process or in which a defense to avoid liability on the contract is asserted.

(d) If a collaborative process communication is subject to an exception under subsection (b) or (c), only the part of the communication necessary for the application of the exception may be disclosed or admitted.

(e) Disclosure or admission of evidence excepted from the privilege under subsection (b) or (c) does not make the evidence or any other collaborative process communication discoverable or admissible for any other purpose.

(f) The privileges under Section 55 do not apply if the parties agree in advance in a signed record, or if a record of a proceeding reflects agreement by the parties, that all or part of a collaborative process is not privileged. This subsection does not apply to a collaborative process communication made by a person that did not receive actual notice of the agreement before the communication was made.

(Source: P.A. 100-205, eff. 1-1-18; 100-759, eff. 1-1-19.)