CIVIL
Carter v. SSC Odin Operating Company
By Michael T. Reagan, Herbolsheimer Lannon Henson Duncan and Reagan PC
In
Carter v. SSC Odin Operating Company, the high court ruled that the sections of the Illinois Nursing Home Care Act voiding a resident's waiver of the right to sue or to have a jury trial were ineffective to negate preemption by the Federal Arbitration Act. Though
Carter was decided within the narrow confines of nursing-home litigation, its logic could affect a much broader range of preemption cases.
For appellate lawyers, here's an interesting procedure point: the court said it was exercising jurisdiction pursuant to its supervisory authority. That was probably necessary because more than 21 days had expired after an initial denial of the petition for leave to appeal, during which time the Supreme Court of the United States had denied certiorari, and the Second District had issued a conflicting opinion.
Case summary
Supreme Court opinion 106511
Slovinski v. Elliot
By Jean M. Prendergast, Schuyler, Roche & Crisham, P.C
Civil practitioners will be wise to consider carefully
Slovinsky v. Elliot, in which the Court refined the standard for reviewing remittitur and punitive damage awards, especially where the trial judge makes no specific findings. In this defamation
per se case, the trial court reduced a $2 million jury award for punitive damages to $1 million.
