General Assembly gives an inch and plaintiffs get a mile when refiling cases

For the Defense

By Donald P. Eckler

Donald “Pat” Eckler is a partner at Goldberg Segalla 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 November 3, 2021 11:03 AM

As seen in Eighner v. Tiernan, Illinois courts are especially solicitous of plaintiffs whose cases are voluntarily dismissed and who later seek to refile under the one-year extension of the statute of limitations under 735 ILCS 5/13-217. This solicitude, which in Eighner related to a voluntary dismissal under 735 ILCS 5/2-1009, is more inexplicable in the context of a dismissal for want of prosecution where a plaintiff can entirely neglect their case and still be able to pursue the claim for a period that seems potentially …

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