2021 Articles

The Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity (DCEO) adopted a new Part titled Business Interruption Grant Program. The program offers financial support for businesses that have experienced exceptional losses or expenditures due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Department of Human Services Act is amended, establishing the Call4Calm text line. The Call4Calm text line is a new program that supports the mental health needs of Illinois residents.

The Illinois General Assembly amended the Counties Code by altering the County Cannabis Retailers’ Occupation Tax Law.

On Aug. 11, 2021, the Fourth District of the Illinois Appellate Court affirmed a circuit court’s judgment to impose a natural-life sentence.

On Oct. 22, 2020, the Illinois Supreme Court held that plaintiffs challenging an administrative agency’s authority are excused from exhausting their administrative remedies.

On Jan. 29, 2021, the Third District of the Illinois Appellate Court vacated a defendant’s conviction after granting the defendant’s motion to suppress evidence obtained during a traffic stop based on a mistake of law by the arresting officer.

On April 26, 2021, the Fourth District of the Illinois Appellate Court held that a city council’s closed meeting violated the Open Meetings Act by discussing topics other than litigation.

On Nov. 19, 2020, the Illinois Supreme Court held that a city may not evaluate a police officer’s job performance based on the number of citations the officer has issued.

On April 13, 2021, the First District of the Illinois Appellate Court remanded a case to determine whether Chicago’s action plan regarding the public response to former Chicago police officer Jason Van Dyke’s verdict can be partially redacted and produced.

On Aug. 5, 2021, the First District of the Illinois Appellate Court affirmed the circuit court’s judgment that a condominium purchaser could not pursue a claim for breach of implied warranty of habitability against a general contractor who had no contractual relationship with the purchaser.

On Dec. 17, 2020, the Illinois Supreme Court held that a community college violated the Public Community College Act when the college laid off tenured faculty members and within months hired adjunct instructors to do the work that the laid-off faculty were able to do.

On Sept. 20, 2021, the Fifth District of the Illinois Appellate Court held that student report cards of two school districts should not be compared in certain circumstances when reviewing a petition for detachment and annexation.

The plaintiff filed a complaint against her condominium association and its acting president who prohibited her from operating her condominium unit as a short-term rental on Airbnb on the basis that the condominium declarations barred short-term rentals.

On Sept. 30, 2020, the First District of the Illinois Appellate Court reversed a circuit court’s judgment dismissing a complaint that alleged negligent misrepresentation on the part of a construction engineering firm for failure to state a cause of action.

The Department of Labor adopted an amendment to the Part titled Employee Classification.

On Sept. 16, 2021, the Second District of the Illinois Appellate Court affirmed the circuit court’s reversal of a final administrative decision regarding Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits.

On June 11, 2021, the Fifth District of the Illinois Appellate Court held that a new trial is warranted because the state impermissibly used the defendant’s other bad acts as substantive evidence of the defendant’s guilt.

On Sept. 27, 2021, the Second District of the Illinois Appellate Court found that a trial court failed to conduct a proper Batson hearing.

On Oct. 16, 2020, the First District of the Illinois Appellate Court rejected the plaintiff’s choice to litigate in Illinois due to a lack of connection between the plaintiff and the forum.

On May 19, 2021, the Third District of the Illinois Appellate Court vacated a trial court decision that reduced a marriage dissolution permanent maintenance to $0 after a substantial change in circumstances.

On May 18, 2021, the Third District of the Illinois Appellate Court held that the trial court did not interfere with jury deliberation when it instructed the jury to remain silent while listening to an audio recording and prevented the jury from controlling the playback of the audio recording.