101ST GENERAL ASSEMBLY
State of Illinois
2019 and 2020
HB0164

 

Introduced , by Rep. Thomas M. Bennett

 

SYNOPSIS AS INTRODUCED:
 
735 ILCS 5/2-101  from Ch. 110, par. 2-101
735 ILCS 5/2-102  from Ch. 110, par. 2-102
735 ILCS 5/2-103  from Ch. 110, par. 2-103
735 ILCS 5/2-110 new
735 ILCS 5/2-1107.1  from Ch. 110, par. 2-1107.1
735 ILCS 5/2-1117  from Ch. 110, par. 2-1117
735 ILCS 5/2-1205.2 new

    Amends the Code of Civil Procedure. Deletes a provision authorizing an action to be commenced in any county if all defendants are nonresidents of this State. Limits venue for actions against corporations, partnerships, and insurance companies. Provides that in actions in which no party is a resident of this State and over which another forum has jurisdiction, the court shall, upon motion, dismiss the action subject to specified conditions. Provides that joint and several liability attaches when a defendant is found to be 50%, rather than 25%, at fault. Limits amounts recovered for medical care, treatment, or services and caretaking expenses to the amounts actually paid for those expenses regardless of the amounts initially billed.


LRB101 04110 LNS 49118 b

 

 

A BILL FOR

 

HB0164LRB101 04110 LNS 49118 b

1    AN ACT concerning civil law.
 
2    Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
3represented in the General Assembly:
 
4    Section 5. The Code of Civil Procedure is amended by
5changing Sections 2-101, 2-102, 2-103, 2-1107.1, and 2-1117 and
6by adding Sections 2-110 and 2-1205.2 as follows:
 
7    (735 ILCS 5/2-101)  (from Ch. 110, par. 2-101)
8    Sec. 2-101. Generally. Except as otherwise provided in this
9Act, every action must be commenced (1) in the county of
10residence of any defendant who is joined in good faith and with
11probable cause for the purpose of obtaining a judgment against
12him or her and not solely for the purpose of fixing venue in
13that county, or (2) in the county in which the transaction or
14some part thereof occurred out of which the cause of action
15arose.
16    If a check, draft, money order, or other instrument for the
17payment of child support payable to or delivered to the State
18Disbursement Unit established under Section 10-26 of the
19Illinois Public Aid Code is returned by the bank or depository
20for any reason, venue for the enforcement of any criminal
21proceedings or civil cause of action for recovery and attorney
22fees shall be in the county where the principal office of the
23State Disbursement Unit is located.

 

 

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1    If all defendants are nonresidents of the State, an action
2may be commenced in any county.
3    If the corporate limits of a city, village or town extend
4into more than one county, then the venue of an action or
5proceeding instituted by that municipality to enforce any fine,
6imprisonment, penalty or forfeiture for violation of any
7ordinance of that municipality, regardless of the county in
8which the violation was committed or occurred, may be in the
9appropriate court (i) in the county wherein the office of the
10clerk of the municipality is located or (ii) in any county in
11which at least 35% of the territory within the municipality's
12corporate limits is located.
13    The changes to this Section made by this amendatory Act of
14the 101st General Assembly apply to actions filed on or after
15the effective date of this amendatory Act of the 101st General
16Assembly.
17(Source: P.A. 91-212, eff. 7-20-99.)
 
18    (735 ILCS 5/2-102)  (from Ch. 110, par. 2-102)
19    Sec. 2-102. Residence of corporations, voluntary
20unincorporated associations and partnerships defined. For
21purposes of venue, the following definitions apply:
22    (a) Any private corporation or railroad or bridge company,
23organized under the laws of this State, and any foreign
24corporation authorized to transact business in this State is a
25resident of any county in which it has its registered office or

 

 

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1other office or, if on due inquiry no office can be found in
2this State, any county in which it is doing business. A foreign
3corporation not authorized to transact business in this State
4is a nonresident of this State.
5    (b) A partnership sued in its firm name is a resident of
6any county in which any partner resides or in which the
7partnership has an office or, if on due inquiry no office can
8be found in this State, any county in which it is doing
9business. A partnership sued in its firm name, of which all
10partners are nonresidents of this State and which does not have
11an office or do business in this State, is a nonresident of
12this State.
13    (c) A voluntary unincorporated association sued in its own
14name is a resident of any county in which the association has
15an office or, if on due inquiry no office can be found, in
16which any officer of the association resides. A voluntary
17unincorporated association sued in its own name, of which all
18its members are nonresidents of this State and which does not
19have an office or do business in this State, is a nonresident
20of this State.
21    The changes to this Section made by this amendatory Act of
22the 101st General Assembly apply to actions filed on or after
23the effective date of this amendatory Act of the 101st General
24Assembly.
25(Source: P.A. 83-901.)
 

 

 

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1    (735 ILCS 5/2-103)  (from Ch. 110, par. 2-103)
2    Sec. 2-103. Public corporations - Local actions - Libel
3Libel - Insurance companies.
4    (a) Actions must be brought against a public, municipal,
5governmental or quasi-municipal corporation in the county in
6which its principal office is located or in the county in which
7the transaction or some part thereof occurred out of which the
8cause of action arose. Except as otherwise provided in Section
97-102 of this Code, if the cause of action is related to an
10airport owned by a unit of local government or the property or
11aircraft operations thereof, however, including an action
12challenging the constitutionality of this amendatory Act of the
1393rd General Assembly, the action must be brought in the county
14in which the unit of local government's principal office is
15located. Actions to recover damage to real estate which may be
16overflowed or otherwise damaged by reason of any act of the
17corporation may be brought in the county where the real estate
18or some part of it is situated, or in the county where the
19corporation is located, at the option of the party claiming to
20be injured. Except as otherwise provided in Section 7-102 of
21this Code, any cause of action that is related to an airport
22owned by a unit of local government, and that is pending on or
23after the effective date of this amendatory Act of the 93rd
24General Assembly in a county other than the county in which the
25unit of local government's principal office is located, shall
26be transferred, upon motion of any party under Section 2-106 of

 

 

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1this Code, to the county in which the unit of local
2government's principal office is located.
3    (b) Any action to quiet title to real estate, or to
4partition or recover possession thereof or to foreclose a
5mortgage or other lien thereon, must be brought in the county
6in which the real estate or some part of it is situated.
7    (c) Any action which is made local by any statute must be
8brought in the county designated in the statute.
9    (d) Every action against any owner, publisher, editor,
10author or printer of a newspaper or magazine of general
11circulation for libel contained in that newspaper or magazine
12may be commenced only in the county in which the defendant
13resides or has his, her or its principal office or in which the
14article was composed or printed, except when the defendant
15resides or the article was printed without this State, in
16either of which cases the action may be commenced in any county
17in which the libel was circulated or published.
18    (e) (Blank). Actions against any insurance company
19incorporated under the law of this State or doing business in
20this State may also be brought in any county in which the
21plaintiff or one of the plaintiffs may reside.
22    (f) The changes to this Section made by this amendatory Act
23of the 101st General Assembly apply to actions filed on or
24after the effective date of this amendatory Act of the 101st
25General Assembly.
26(Source: P.A. 93-450, eff. 8-6-03.)
 

 

 

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1    (735 ILCS 5/2-110 new)
2    Sec. 2-110. Motion to dismiss for inconvenient venue.
3    (a) In any action in which none of the parties is a
4resident of this State and over which another forum has
5jurisdiction, the court shall on motion dismiss the action on
6the conditions set forth in subsection (b) unless the cause of
7action primarily arose in this State or the interests of
8justice require that the action proceed in this State. The
9court in its discretion may award costs and reasonable
10attorney's fees in connection with the dismissal.
11    (b) Dismissal of the action shall be on condition that: (i)
12if the plaintiff elects to file the action in another forum
13within 6 months after the dismissal order, the defendant shall
14accept service of process from that court; and (ii) if the
15statute of limitations has run in the other forum, the
16defendant shall waive that defense. If the defendant refuses to
17abide by these conditions, the action shall be reinstated for
18further proceedings in the court in which the dismissal was
19granted. If the court in the other forum refuses to accept
20jurisdiction, the plaintiff may, within 30 days after the final
21order refusing jurisdiction, reinstate the action in the court
22in which the dismissal was granted.
23    (c) This Section applies to actions filed on or after the
24effective date of this amendatory Act of the 101st General
25Assembly. Motions authorized by this Section are in addition

 

 

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1to, and not in place of, a motion otherwise available to a
2party or the court or under any other statute or rule or the
3common law.
 
4    (735 ILCS 5/2-1107.1)  (from Ch. 110, par. 2-1107.1)
5    (Text of Section WITHOUT the changes made by P.A. 89-7,
6which has been held unconstitutional)
7    Sec. 2-1107.1. Jury instruction in tort actions. In all
8actions on account of bodily injury or death or physical damage
9to property based on negligence, or product liability based on
10strict tort liability, the court shall instruct the jury in
11writing that: (a) the defendant shall be found not liable if
12the jury finds that the contributory fault of the plaintiff is
13more than 50% of the proximate cause of the injury or damage
14for which recovery is sought; and (b) if the defendant is found
15liable, (i) the defendant is jointly and severally liable for
16the plaintiff's past and future medical and medically related
17expenses regardless of the fault attributed to the defendant
18and (ii) the defendant is jointly and severally liable for the
19plaintiff's other damages if the jury finds that the fault of
20the defendant is 50% or more of the proximate cause.
21    The changes to this Section made by this amendatory Act of
22the 101st General Assembly apply to actions filed on or after
23the effective date of this amendatory Act of the 101st General
24Assembly.
25(Source: P.A. 84-1431.)
 

 

 

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1    (735 ILCS 5/2-1117)  (from Ch. 110, par. 2-1117)
2    Sec. 2-1117. Joint liability. Except as provided in Section
32-1118, in actions on account of bodily injury or death or
4physical damage to property, based on negligence, or product
5liability based on strict tort liability, all defendants found
6liable are jointly and severally liable for plaintiff's past
7and future medical and medically related expenses. Any
8defendant whose fault, as determined by the trier of fact, is
9less than 50% 25% of the total fault of all tortfeasors,
10including but not limited to the plaintiff's employer,
11nonparties, entities that have settled, or any other person
12that the trier of fact finds was at fault and a proximate cause
13of the injury or damage for which recovery is sought by
14attributable to the plaintiff, the defendants sued by the
15plaintiff, and any third party defendant except the plaintiff's
16employer, shall be severally liable for all other damages. Any
17defendant whose fault, as determined by the trier of fact, is
1850% 25% or greater of the total fault of all tortfeasors,
19including but not limited to plaintiff's employer, nonparties,
20entities that have settled, or any other person that the trier
21of fact finds was at fault and a proximate cause of the injury
22or damage for which recovery is sought by the plaintiff
23attributable to the plaintiff, the defendants sued by the
24plaintiff, and any third party defendants except the
25plaintiff's employer, shall be jointly and severally liable for

 

 

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1all other damages.
2    The changes to this Section made by this amendatory Act of
3the 101st General Assembly apply to actions filed on or after
4the effective date of this amendatory Act of the 101st General
5Assembly.
6(Source: P.A. 93-10, eff. 6-4-03; 93-12, eff. 6-4-03.)
 
7    (735 ILCS 5/2-1205.2 new)
8    Sec. 2-1205.2. Recovery of medical expenses. In actions on
9account of bodily injury or death in which recovery is sought
10for the reasonable expense of necessary medical care,
11treatment, or services, including but not limited to medical,
12hospital, nursing, or caretaking expenses, the amount
13recovered shall be not more than the amount actually paid or
14the amount expected to be actually paid for such expenses,
15regardless of the amount initially billed for such expenses.
16The court may hear evidence of the amount actually paid or the
17amount expected to be paid for such services. This Section
18applies to actions filed on or after the effective date of this
19amendatory Act of the 101st General Assembly.