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Health & Fitness

Illinois cannot afford bill that will delay lawsuit settlements

Illinois House considering legislation that could make it more difficult to settle a lawsuit and ultimately could lead to even more clogged courts

The Illinois civil justice system has a well-deserved reputation as lawsuit friendly, with people flocking here from other states to file their junk lawsuits in the hopes of winning big playing the lawsuit lottery.

This flood of frivolous lawsuits into our civil justice system results in clogged courts and delays compensation for people with legitimate claims from being made whole in a timely manner.

A serious problem in Illinois, though, is about to get worse. The Illinois House is considering legislation that if enacted in its current form will further delay people from being made whole by making it more difficult for parties to settle a lawsuit.

Find out what's happening in Des Plaineswith free, real-time updates from Patch.

Senate Bill 1912 will discourage settlements and burden the courts with cases parties would otherwise settle by imposing statutory deadlines the parties cannot realistically meet, and therefore will force them to litigate their cases.

This legislation is flying in under the radar. While the media and lawmakers are consumed with big ticket items such as pension reform and concealed carry legislation, personal injury lawyers are quietly pushing this dangerous legislation. Illinois residents deserve to get justice in our courts in a timely manner, but SB 1912 will hurt – not help – the ability of Illinois residents to get a speedy resolution to their disputes.

Find out what's happening in Des Plaineswith free, real-time updates from Patch.

Call your legislators today and urge them to oppose Senate Bill 1912!

 

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