Upcoming 4th District case may clarify open and obvious doctrine

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 September 7, 2022 11:38 AM

The goal of this space is to present a civil defense attorney’s perspective on issues in the civil justice system. The initial task to achieve that goal is to identify those issues. In the more than two years that this column has been published, the development of one doctrine in such a short space of time has not been seen as is currently occurring before the Illinois Appellate Court, 4th District, with the open and obvious doctrine. Not only is this unusual, but it is important as the doctrine is among the most important …

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