Presidential race offers something for all, but how about a real candidate

Plain Speaking

By David L. Applegate

David L. Applegate is a business trial lawyer at Williams, Montgomery & John Ltd. who speaks and writes frequently on matters of public policy and legal interest.

Posted February 3, 2016 3:15 PM

Further proof, if any were needed, that our nation is young is this sobering fact: I have been alive for slightly more than 25 percent of the time since 13 colonies declared their independence. (As Benjamin Franklin once told me … well, never mind.)In that time, I have seen a U.S. president shot dead (Kennedy), another president shot but not killed (Reagan), a president shot at and missed (Ford) and a presidential candidate shot dead (Bobby Kennedy).I have seen a president resign from office (Nixon), a president …

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Lawyer erred on personal representative after learning defendant was dead

Answering a question certified for immediate appeal in a case where the plaintiff didn’t know the defendant was dead when the lawsuit was filed, the Illinois Appellate Court concluded that the maneuver used by plaintiff’s attorney to rectify the problem — having his secretary appointed as “personal representative” of the decedent’s estate under Sec. 13-209(c) of the Code of Civil Procedure and then naming her as defendant in an amended complaint — was the wrong move.
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