Forced to litigate in Florida?
For those out-of-state contractors, architects, and builders working on projects in some other place for Illinois' residents, there are some interesting lessons in the Fourth District's Isringhausen v. Prime Contractors and Associates, Inc., opinion regarding keeping yourselves from being subjected to Illinois law.
It should come as no surprise that a Florida company working on building a house in Florida that was contacted and did no business in Illinois was not subject to Illinois jurisdiction. But, what if the Florida contractor was advertising here in Illinois, or had made a few trips to Illinois to complete the contract? What if the escrow or some other portion of the contract were to be completed in Illinois so that the contractor, although minimally, were availing itself of Illinois law? It would be wise to work out the full details for out-of-state construction both for owners in Illinois and contractors elsewhere, lest the parties find themselves in costly litigation hundreds or even thousands of miles away.
