2013 Articles

On December 6, 2012, the Illinois Appellate Court, Fourth District, held that a contractor could reasonably foresee that an employee would stay at a motel close to a job site when their home was 200 miles away, and thus the employee's injury while traveling from the motel to the worksite arose in the course of his employment for workers' comp purposes.

On November 20, 2012, the Illinois Appellate Court, First District, determined that a defendant's intent to induce reliance by a consumer is a necessary element to proving a section 2 claim under the Consumer Fraud and Deceptive Business Practices Act ("Consumer Fraud Act"), regardless of whether the defendant's action was a misrepresentation or omission of material fact.

On January 22, 2013, the Illinois Appellate Court, First District, held that a levy sale of an undivided half-interest in a single-family home for $120,000 less than its appraised value was not unconscionable or unjust.

On April 16, 2013, the first district appellate court held that the insured of an insolvent insurer could not recover any proceeds from its insurance policies above the amount paid to an injured party in a settlement agreement.

Howard Mayfield ("Mayfield") and Shannon Dykes ("Dykes") divorced in 2003. Dykes received primary custody of their two children, and Mayfield was ordered to pay $158.50 per week in child support.

On March 21, 2013, the Illinois Supreme Court affirmed the judgment of the appellate court and held that the Illinois Department of Children and Family Services ("DCFS") did not have authority to charge someone with an offense that defined "neglect" using language that had previously been deleted by the legislature in the Abused and Neglected Child Reporting Act ("ANCPA").

The Code of Civil Procedure is amended by extending a debtor's exempt personal property to include some life insurance policies, endowment policies, and annuities if the proceeds are directed into a particular kind of trust. 735 ILCS 5/12-1001.

The Department of Aging will now have the power to share and request information about income, identification, and other applicable program and service eligibility information electronically through the use of data-sharing agreements with the Social Security Administration, the Department of Employment Security, the Department of Health and Human Services, and "any other governmental entity." 20 ILCS 105/4.01.

The Department of Natural Resources (Conservation) Law of the Civil Administrative Code of Illinois now provides for the removal and/or ban of individuals from Department-owned or dedicated lands. 20 ILCS 805/805-518 new.

On August 16, 2013, the First District Appellate Court held that a nonvested discretionary bonus accrued during a marriage, but received after entry of a judgment of dissolution of the marriage, was not marital property.

Election authorities must now conduct early public voting on campuses of public universities in "high traffic" locations in addition to conducting early voting at other locations required by law. 10 ILCS 5/1-12.