Counsel’s ‘bad choices’ are no excuse

By Marc Karlinsky mkarlinsky@lawbulletinmedia.com

Posted October 1, 2020 12:30 PM

A $1 million award reached during a jury trial with the defendant and his counsel absent was upheld Monday by a state appeals panel — though the court also trimmed off $8 million in punitive damages it ruled excessive.“In cases like this case, we do not serve as a safety net for bad choices,” Justice Michael B. Hyman wrote in the opening paragraph of the 27-page 1st District Appellate Court opinion.Following the one-day trial before Cook County Circuit Judge James M. Varga, a jury awarded $1 million in compensatory damages …

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