To print this article, all you need is to be registered or login on Mondaq. As last reported, the statute took effect on July 1, 2021, and was quickly challenged on constitutional grounds in cases pending in the Circuit Court cook county circuit court Cook County. Those challenges were consolidated for decision by Judge Marcia Maras and on May 27, 2022, Judge Maras held in Hyland v.
In response to Judge Maras’s ruling, which has not yet been addressed by a reviewing court, the Circuit Court of Cook County recently established a protocol for handling further motions challenging the statute on constitutional grounds or with respect to its application in a particular case. Motions seeking to apply Judge Maras’s finding of unconstitutionality to any other case prior to trial. The protocol is set out in a notice issued by Law Division Presiding Judge James Flannery on July 20, 2022. All such motions may be filed in all applicable cases and shall remain pending and continued generally, with all issues preserved, until such time as all avenues of appellate review on the constitutionality of the Judgment Interest Act Amendment have been exhausted and a final order from the Illinois Supreme Court is issued. Attorneys shall not notice or submit such motions before the assigned Law Division Judges, nor submit orders for entry on these motions.
All orders previously entered on such motions are deemed vacated, and such motions will remain pending and continued generally, with all issues preserved, until such time as all avenues of appellate review on the constitutionality of the Judgment Interest Act Amendment have been exhausted and a final order from the Illinois Supreme Court is issued. The notice provides further that such motions filed in cases assigned for trial as of July 20, 2022, “shall remain with, and be decided by, the assigned trial judge. Pursuant to this provision, at least one Cook County trial judge has ruled that the prejudgment interest statute is constitutional. Given the continued uncertainty regarding the constitutionality of the prejudgment interest statute, we recommend that defendants file motions challenging the statute’s validity in their individual cases in order to preserve the issue for appellate review as set out in the July 20, 2022, notice. The content of this article is intended to provide a general guide to the subject matter. Specialist advice should be sought about your specific circumstances.
