Defendants should consider making equitable arguments in tort litigation

For the Defense

By Donald P. Eckler

Donald “Pat” Eckler is a partner at Goldberg Segalla 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 October 13, 2021 10:20 AM

Two recent decisions in favor of tort plaintiffs demonstrate that even when a defendant can satisfy all of the elements of a theory supportive of their position, they still may lose. One of the takeaways for defense counsel is to consider including in their briefs equitable and policy arguments underpinning the reasoning for the common law principle or statute they seek to apply as that can provide some guard against a court finding the equities favor the plaintiff.In Eighner v. Tiernan, 2021 IL 126101, the Illinois …

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