House Bill 3360 threatens defendants’ procedural rights

For the Defense

By Donald P. Eckler

Donald “Pat” Eckler is a partner at Pretzel & Stouffer 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 February 17, 2021 12:05 PM

In a tacit, but clear, confirmation that there are fundamental and incurable flaws in remote jury trials, the Illinois Supreme Court in MR 30370, issued Feb. 11, forbade criminal matters to proceed to a remote jury trial even when the defendant has consented to such a trial. It is obviously necessary to ensure the propriety of the procedure to arrive at the imposition of the highest punishment the state can impose: deprivation of liberty. As seen last week in this space, it is hard enough to properly obtain a unanimous …

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Another judge rejects 7th Circuit case on standing

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