Illinois Construction Law Blog : Illinois Construction Lawyer & Attorney : Foran Glennon Palandech & Ponzi Law Firm : Chicago IL

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The First District has filed a new opinion relating to control exerted over an independent contractor by a GC in Gregory v. Beazer East, et al., (Doc. No. 1-06-3597).  The court held in an asbestos related action that the facts surrounding the worker's employment in the construction of a facility back in 1970-71 did not give rise to a finding of liability in a construction negligence action.  While the defendant (the facility owner) had the ability to stop work, monitor work, and control access to the site "these were simply general rights it had as the ultimate employer on the construction project."

Periodically, we see cases in which an owner will assert a claim against a design professional pursuant to the consumer fraud act.  In an interesting case initiated pursuant to an act with similar provisions, the Second District has held that a corporation in the business of restoring vintage cars can qualify as an "Automotive Repair Facility" under the Automotive Repair Act.  In Montgomery v. Nostalgia Lane, Inc., (Doc. No. 2-07-0661) this finding required reversal of a summary judgment in favor of the repair facility after the plaintiff sued for damages where the facility allegedly low-balled its bid and then ended up over-charging.

The tenants of a commission run trailer park were allowed to keep their claims against the commission for an unlawful taking and for inverse condemnation and beat a dismissal motion.  In Mester v. Otter Lake Water Commission, (C.D. IL, Doc. No. 08-3080) the court found that there were facts and allegations sufficient to preclude a determination that the actions of the commission in limiting and restricting tenants rights and their ability to sell their lots or transfer ownership did not amount to an unlawful taking or condemnation.

In DOT v. Anderson, et al. (Doc. No. 3-07-0877), the Third District found that despite the private claims of an individual to ownership interest in a parcel, where the recorded documents showed title was vested in another, and that the common law requirement of possession use or control had not been met, the plaintiff was not an owner under the Eminent Domain Act.

Shari Shapiro, over at Green Building Law, has an article published at Green Buildings about an action filed by some HVAC providers against the City of Albuquerque to stop regulations passed by the city requiring higher efficiency heating and cooling units from going into effect.

BLAWG REVIEW #168 is up over at West Virginia Business Litigation and provides some interesting diversions.  Notably, a few great links discussing legal writing and some entries about topics that came up in blogs last week.  In general, this posting does not center around a theme as most of the review's tend to; it sums up some postings that were interesting to the author.