Staggered expert witness disclosures is necessary safeguard for defendants

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. His views are his own and not those of his firm or its clients.

Posted October 7, 2020 11:54 AM

“What was old is new again” could describe the recent imposition of simultaneous disclosures in a broad swath of Law Division cases. First introduced in Cook County as part of a pilot program nearly 10 years ago and maintained by some judges since, the case management orders released in July broadened this requirement. The requirement, which presumably has been imposed to move cases more expeditiously toward trial after the shutdown that began in March, is being inconsistently applied by the motion judges. Anecdotally …

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