One proposed change to Supreme Court Rules on venue and a couple of updates

For the Defense

By Donald P. Eckler

Donald “Pat” Eckler is a partner at Freeman, Mathis, & Gary LLP, 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 July 20, 2022 11:30 AM

Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 54(b) was discussed in this space Jan. 19 in the context of a couple of then-recent oral arguments before the 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.One of those cases was Rankins v. Systems Solutions of Kentucky, 2022 WL 2662141, a product liability claim in which third-party defendant DHL was sued for contribution and spoliation by the direct defendant, SSK, and then dismissed from the case by the district court following a settlement with the plaintiff. It has now been resolved, and the court …

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