Justice requires a change to fault apportionment in Illinois

For the Defense

By Donald P. Eckler and David H. Levitt

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. David H. Levitt is a partner in the Chicago office of Hinshaw & Culbertson LLP. He is a past President of the Illinois Association of Defense Trial Counsel, and chair of DRI’s Task Force on Third Party Litigation Funding. Their views are their own and not those of their firms or their clients.

Posted April 29, 2020 10:27 AM

This is the first of a two-part column. The second part will publish May 6.Fairness and justice can be difficult to discern, but understanding the difference is essential as justice often depends on the degree of fairness afforded.A story from a philosophy professor at the University of Chicago is helpful to illustrate the concepts. The professor was walking to class in the late 1960s when a protest had turned violent on one of the Quads. The police arrived and started whacking everyone on the head. Was it just that the …

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