99TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY
State of Illinois
2015 and 2016
HB4600

 

Introduced , by Rep. Thomas Bennett

 

SYNOPSIS AS INTRODUCED:
 
735 ILCS 5/2-101  from Ch. 110, par. 2-101
735 ILCS 5/2-102  from Ch. 110, par. 2-102
735 ILCS 5/2-103  from Ch. 110, par. 2-103
735 ILCS 5/2-110 new
735 ILCS 5/2-1107.1  from Ch. 110, par. 2-1107.1
735 ILCS 5/2-1117  from Ch. 110, par. 2-1117
735 ILCS 5/2-1205.2 new

    Amends the Code of Civil Procedure. Deletes a provision authorizing an action to be commenced in any county when all defendants are nonresidents of this State. Limits venue for actions against corporations, partnerships, and insurance companies. Provides that in actions in which no party is a resident of this State and over which another forum has jurisdiction, the court shall, upon motion, dismiss the action subject to specified conditions. Provides that joint and several liability attaches when a defendant is found to be 50%, rather than 25%, at fault. Limits amounts recovered for medical care, treatment, or services and caretaking expenses to the amounts actually paid for those expenses regardless of the amounts initially billed.


LRB099 18963 HEP 43352 b

 

 

A BILL FOR

 

HB4600LRB099 18963 HEP 43352 b

1    AN ACT concerning civil law.
 
2    Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
3represented in the General Assembly:
 
4    Section 5. The Code of Civil Procedure is amended by
5changing Sections 2-101, 2-102, 2-103, 2-1107.1, and 2-1117 and
6by adding Sections 2-110 and 2-1205.2 as follows:
 
7    (735 ILCS 5/2-101)  (from Ch. 110, par. 2-101)
8    Sec. 2-101. Generally. Except as otherwise provided in this
9Act, every action must be commenced (1) in the county of
10residence of any defendant who is joined in good faith and with
11probable cause for the purpose of obtaining a judgment against
12him or her and not solely for the purpose of fixing venue in
13that county, or (2) in the county in which the transaction or
14some part thereof occurred out of which the cause of action
15arose.
16    If a check, draft, money order, or other instrument for the
17payment of child support payable to or delivered to the State
18Disbursement Unit established under Section 10-26 of the
19Illinois Public Aid Code is returned by the bank or depository
20for any reason, venue for the enforcement of any criminal
21proceedings or civil cause of action for recovery and attorney
22fees shall be in the county where the principal office of the
23State Disbursement Unit is located.

 

 

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1    If all defendants are nonresidents of the State, an action
2may be commenced in any county.
3    If the corporate limits of a city, village or town extend
4into more than one county, then the venue of an action or
5proceeding instituted by that municipality to enforce any fine,
6imprisonment, penalty or forfeiture for violation of any
7ordinance of that municipality, regardless of the county in
8which the violation was committed or occurred, may be in the
9appropriate court (i) in the county wherein the office of the
10clerk of the municipality is located or (ii) in any county in
11which at least 35% of the territory within the municipality's
12corporate limits is located.
13    The changes to this Section made by this amendatory Act of
14the 99th General Assembly apply to actions filed on or after
15its effective date.
16(Source: P.A. 91-212, eff. 7-20-99.)
 
17    (735 ILCS 5/2-102)  (from Ch. 110, par. 2-102)
18    Sec. 2-102. Residence of corporations, voluntary
19unincorporated associations and partnerships defined. For
20purposes of venue, the following definitions apply:
21    (a) Any private corporation or railroad or bridge company,
22organized under the laws of this State, and any foreign
23corporation authorized to transact business in this State is a
24resident of any county in which it has its registered office or
25other office or, if on due inquiry no office can be found in

 

 

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1this State, any county in which it is doing business. A foreign
2corporation not authorized to transact business in this State
3is a nonresident of this State.
4    (b) A partnership sued in its firm name is a resident of
5any county in which any partner resides or in which the
6partnership has an office or, if on due inquiry no office can
7be found in this State, any county in which it is doing
8business. A partnership sued in its firm name, of which all
9partners are nonresidents of this State and which does not have
10an office or do business in this State, is a nonresident of
11this State.
12    (c) A voluntary unincorporated association sued in its own
13name is a resident of any county in which the association has
14an office or, if on due inquiry no office can be found, in
15which any officer of the association resides. A voluntary
16unincorporated association sued in its own name, of which all
17its members are nonresidents of this State and which does not
18have an office or do business in this State, is a nonresident
19of this State.
20    The changes to this Section made by this amendatory Act of
21the 99th General Assembly apply to actions filed on or after
22its effective date.
23(Source: P.A. 83-901.)
 
24    (735 ILCS 5/2-103)  (from Ch. 110, par. 2-103)
25    Sec. 2-103. Public corporations - Local actions - Libel

 

 

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1Libel - Insurance companies.
2    (a) Actions must be brought against a public, municipal,
3governmental or quasi-municipal corporation in the county in
4which its principal office is located or in the county in which
5the transaction or some part thereof occurred out of which the
6cause of action arose. Except as otherwise provided in Section
77-102 of this Code, if the cause of action is related to an
8airport owned by a unit of local government or the property or
9aircraft operations thereof, however, including an action
10challenging the constitutionality of this amendatory Act of the
1193rd General Assembly, the action must be brought in the county
12in which the unit of local government's principal office is
13located. Actions to recover damage to real estate which may be
14overflowed or otherwise damaged by reason of any act of the
15corporation may be brought in the county where the real estate
16or some part of it is situated, or in the county where the
17corporation is located, at the option of the party claiming to
18be injured. Except as otherwise provided in Section 7-102 of
19this Code, any cause of action that is related to an airport
20owned by a unit of local government, and that is pending on or
21after the effective date of this amendatory Act of the 93rd
22General Assembly in a county other than the county in which the
23unit of local government's principal office is located, shall
24be transferred, upon motion of any party under Section 2-106 of
25this Code, to the county in which the unit of local
26government's principal office is located.

 

 

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1    (b) Any action to quiet title to real estate, or to
2partition or recover possession thereof or to foreclose a
3mortgage or other lien thereon, must be brought in the county
4in which the real estate or some part of it is situated.
5    (c) Any action which is made local by any statute must be
6brought in the county designated in the statute.
7    (d) Every action against any owner, publisher, editor,
8author or printer of a newspaper or magazine of general
9circulation for libel contained in that newspaper or magazine
10may be commenced only in the county in which the defendant
11resides or has his, her or its principal office or in which the
12article was composed or printed, except when the defendant
13resides or the article was printed without this State, in
14either of which cases the action may be commenced in any county
15in which the libel was circulated or published.
16    (e) (Blank). Actions against any insurance company
17incorporated under the law of this State or doing business in
18this State may also be brought in any county in which the
19plaintiff or one of the plaintiffs may reside.
20    (f) The changes to this Section made by this amendatory Act
21of the 99th General Assembly apply to actions filed on or after
22its effective date.
23(Source: P.A. 93-450, eff. 8-6-03.)
 
24    (735 ILCS 5/2-110 new)
25    Sec. 2-110. Motion to dismiss for inconvenient venue.

 

 

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1    (a) In any action in which none of the parties is a
2resident of this State and over which another forum has
3jurisdiction, the court shall on motion dismiss the action on
4the conditions set forth in subsection (b) unless the cause of
5action primarily arose in this State or the interests of
6justice require that the action proceed in this State. The
7court in its discretion may award costs and reasonable
8attorney's fees in connection with the dismissal.
9    (b) Dismissal of the action shall be on condition that: (i)
10if the plaintiff elects to file the action in another forum
11within 6 months after the dismissal order, the defendant shall
12accept service of process from that court; and (ii) if the
13statute of limitations has run in the other forum, the
14defendant shall waive that defense. If the defendant refuses to
15abide by these conditions, the action shall be reinstated for
16further proceedings in the court in which the dismissal was
17granted. If the court in the other forum refuses to accept
18jurisdiction, the plaintiff may, within 30 days after the final
19order refusing jurisdiction, reinstate the action in the court
20in which the dismissal was granted.
21    (c) This Section applies to actions filed on or after the
22effective date of this amendatory Act of the 99th General
23Assembly. Motions authorized by this Section are in addition
24to, and not in place of, a motion otherwise available to a
25party or the court or under any other statute or rule or the
26common law.
 

 

 

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1    (735 ILCS 5/2-1107.1)  (from Ch. 110, par. 2-1107.1)
2    (Text of Section WITHOUT the changes made by P.A. 89-7,
3which has been held unconstitutional)
4    Sec. 2-1107.1. Jury instruction in tort actions. In all
5actions on account of bodily injury or death or physical damage
6to property based on negligence, or product liability based on
7strict tort liability, the court shall instruct the jury in
8writing that (a) the defendant shall be found not liable if the
9jury finds that the contributory fault of the plaintiff is more
10than 50% of the proximate cause of the injury or damage for
11which recovery is sought and (b) if the defendant is found
12liable, (i) the defendant is jointly and severally liable for
13the plaintiff's past and future medical and medically related
14expenses regardless of the fault attributed to the defendant
15and (ii) the defendant is jointly and severally liable for the
16plaintiff's other damages if the jury finds that the fault of
17the defendant is 50% or more of the proximate cause.
18    The changes to this Section made by this amendatory Act of
19the 99th General Assembly apply to actions filed on or after
20its effective date.
21(Source: P.A. 84-1431.)
 
22    (735 ILCS 5/2-1117)  (from Ch. 110, par. 2-1117)
23    Sec. 2-1117. Joint liability. Except as provided in Section
242-1118, in actions on account of bodily injury or death or

 

 

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1physical damage to property, based on negligence, or product
2liability based on strict tort liability, all defendants found
3liable are jointly and severally liable for plaintiff's past
4and future medical and medically related expenses. Any
5defendant whose fault, as determined by the trier of fact, is
6less than 50% 25% of the total fault of all tortfeasors,
7including but not limited to the plaintiff's employer,
8nonparties, entities that have settled, or any other person
9that the trier of fact finds was at fault and a proximate cause
10of the injury or damage for which recovery is sought by
11attributable to the plaintiff, the defendants sued by the
12plaintiff, and any third party defendant except the plaintiff's
13employer, shall be severally liable for all other damages. Any
14defendant whose fault, as determined by the trier of fact, is
1550% 25% or greater of the total fault of all tortfeasors,
16including but not limited to plaintiff's employer, nonparties,
17entities that have settled, or any other person that the trier
18of fact finds was at fault and a proximate cause of the injury
19or damage for which recovery is sought by the plaintiff
20attributable to the plaintiff, the defendants sued by the
21plaintiff, and any third party defendants except the
22plaintiff's employer, shall be jointly and severally liable for
23all other damages.
24    The changes to this Section made by this amendatory Act of
25the 99th General Assembly apply to actions filed on or after
26its effective date.

 

 

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1(Source: P.A. 93-10, eff. 6-4-03; 93-12, eff. 6-4-03.)
 
2    (735 ILCS 5/2-1205.2 new)
3    Sec. 2-1205.2. Recovery of medical expenses. In actions on
4account of bodily injury or death in which recovery is sought
5for the reasonable expense of necessary medical care,
6treatment, or services, including but not limited to medical,
7hospital, nursing, or caretaking expenses, the amount
8recovered shall be not more than the amount actually paid or
9the amount expected to be actually paid for such expenses,
10regardless of the amount initially billed for such expenses.
11The court may hear evidence of the amount actually paid or the
12amount expected to be paid for such services. This Section
13applies to actions filed on or after the effective date of this
14amendatory Act of the 99th General Assembly.