Special interrogatories will be missed by both sides of the aisle

For the Defense

By Donald P. Eckler

Donald “Pat” Eckler is a partner at Pretzel & Stouffer focusing on professional liability defense, insurance coverage litigation, and general tort defense. He is the legislative chair of the Illinois Association of Defense Trial Counsel. Eckler also is the co-host of the Podium and Panel podcast with Daniel Cotter. His views are his own and not those of his firm or its clients.

Posted April 7, 2021 11:33 AM

When civil jury trials return in May, they will return largely without the use of special interrogatories. P.A. 101-184, which at the prompting of the plaintiffs’ bar effectively eliminated special interrogatories, but only applied to trials that commenced after Jan. 1, 2020. As there were few trials conducted before the March 17, 2020, trial shutdown, these forthcoming trials will be contended without a key tool for assisting the jury in getting to the truth and for the court to confirm the consistency of the jury’s …

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