Bill Text: IL SB0076 | 2021-2022 | 102nd General Assembly | Introduced
Bill Title: Amends provisions of the Code of Civil Procedure pertaining to class actions. Adds further requirements concerning: prerequisites to the maintenance of a class action (including provisions that a class action may be certified only in the court where the defendant’s principal office is located, the plurality of the class members who are Illinois residents reside, or the cause of action arose for the plurality of class members, and a provision requiring that a class action be superior to other available methods for the fair and efficient adjudication of the controversy); preliminary determinations to be made by the court; notice to the class; coupon and other noncash settlements; loss by class members under a proposed settlement; and attorney's fees.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 1-0)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2022-02-10 - Rule 3-9(a) / Re-referred to Assignments [SB0076 Detail]
Download: Illinois-2021-SB0076-Introduced.html
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1 | AN ACT concerning civil procedure.
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2 | Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois, | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
3 | represented in the General Assembly:
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4 | Section 5. The Code of Civil Procedure is amended by | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
5 | changing
Sections 2-801, 2-802, and 2-803 and by adding | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
6 | Sections 2-808, 2-809, and 2-810
as follows:
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7 | (735 ILCS 5/2-801) (from Ch. 110, par. 2-801)
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8 | Sec. 2-801. Prerequisites for the maintenance of a class | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
9 | action.
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10 | (a) An action may be maintained as a class action only in | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
11 | the
any court sitting in the county of this State
in which: (i) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
12 | the defendant's principal office is located; (ii) the | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
13 | plurality
of class members
who are Illinois residents reside; | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
14 | or (iii) the cause of action arose for the
plurality of class
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15 | members.
and A party may sue or be sued as a representative | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
16 | party of the class
only if the court finds:
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17 | (1) The class is so numerous that joinder of all | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
18 | members is
impracticable.
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19 | (2) There are questions of fact or law common to the | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
20 | class, which
common questions predominate over any | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
21 | questions affecting only
individual members , and a class | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
22 | action is superior to other available methods for the fair | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
23 | and
efficient
adjudication of the controversy. The matters |
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1 | pertinent to the findings include:
(A) the
interest of | ||||||
2 | members of the class in individually controlling the | ||||||
3 | prosecution or
defense of
separate actions; (B) the extent | ||||||
4 | and nature of any litigation concerning the
controversy
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5 | already commenced by or against members of the class; (C) | ||||||
6 | the desirability or
undesirability of concentrating the | ||||||
7 | litigation of the claims in the particular
forum; and (D) | ||||||
8 | the
difficulties likely to be encountered in the | ||||||
9 | management of a class action .
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10 | (3) The representative parties will fairly and | ||||||
11 | adequately protect
the interest of the class.
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12 | (4) The class action is an appropriate method for the | ||||||
13 | fair and
efficient adjudication of the controversy.
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14 | (b) Notwithstanding the provisions of subsection (a), a | ||||||
15 | class action may
be
certified only
if the plurality of the | ||||||
16 | class members are residents of this State or if the
plurality | ||||||
17 | of the class
members were physically in this State when the | ||||||
18 | cause of action arose.
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19 | (Source: P.A. 82-280.)
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20 | (735 ILCS 5/2-802) (from Ch. 110, par. 2-802)
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21 | Sec. 2-802. Order and findings relative to the class.
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22 | (a) Preliminary determinations. Before making any of the | ||||||
23 | determinations
set
forth
in
subsections (b) and (c) of this | ||||||
24 | Section, the court shall determine whether the action that has
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25 | been
brought as a class action has been commenced in the court |
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1 | sitting in the county
of this
State in which: (i) the | ||||||
2 | defendant's principal office is located; (ii) the
plurality of | ||||||
3 | class
members who are Illinois residents reside; or (iii) the | ||||||
4 | cause of action arose
for the
plurality of class members. If | ||||||
5 | the court determines that the action has not been
commenced in
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6 | such a county, the court may not permit the action to be | ||||||
7 | maintained as a class
action
pursuant to subsections (b) and | ||||||
8 | (c).
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9 | (b) Determination of Class. As soon as practicable after | ||||||
10 | the
commencement of an action brought as a class action, the | ||||||
11 | court shall
determine by order whether it may be so maintained | ||||||
12 | and describe those
whom the court finds to be members of the | ||||||
13 | class. This order may be
conditional and may be amended before | ||||||
14 | a decision on the merits.
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15 | (c)
(b) Class Action on Limited Issues and Sub-classes. | ||||||
16 | When
appropriate, an action may be brought or maintained as a | ||||||
17 | class action
with respect to particular issues, or divided | ||||||
18 | into sub-classes and each
sub-class treated as a class. The | ||||||
19 | provisions of this rule shall then be
construed and applied | ||||||
20 | accordingly.
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21 | (Source: P.A. 82-280.)
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22 | (735 ILCS 5/2-803) (from Ch. 110, par. 2-803)
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23 | Sec. 2-803. Notice to class members.
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24 | (a) For any class certified under this Part 8, the court | ||||||
25 | may direct
appropriate
notice to the class.
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1 | (b) For any class certified under this Part 8, the court | ||||||
2 | must direct to
class
members
the best notice practicable under | ||||||
3 | the circumstances, including individual
notice to all
members | ||||||
4 | who can be identified through reasonable effort. The notice | ||||||
5 | must
concisely and
clearly state in plain, easily understood | ||||||
6 | language:
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7 | (1) the nature of the action;
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8 | (2) the definition of the class certified;
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9 | (3) the class claims, issues, or defenses;
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10 | (4) that a class member may enter an appearance | ||||||
11 | through counsel if the
member
so desires;
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12 | (5) that the court will exclude from the class any | ||||||
13 | member who requests
exclusion,
with instructions stating | ||||||
14 | when and how members may elect to be excluded; and
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15 | (6) the binding effect of a class judgment on class | ||||||
16 | members under this
Part 8.
in class cases. Upon a | ||||||
17 | determination that an action may be maintained as a
class | ||||||
18 | action, or at any time during the
conduct of the action, | ||||||
19 | the court in its discretion may order such notice
that it | ||||||
20 | deems necessary to protect the interests of the class and | ||||||
21 | the
parties.
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22 | An order entered under subsection (a) of Section 2-802
of | ||||||
23 | this Act, determining
that an action may be maintained as a | ||||||
24 | class action, may be conditioned
upon the giving of such | ||||||
25 | notice as the court deems appropriate.
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26 | (Source: P.A. 83-707.)
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1 | (735 ILCS 5/2-808 new) | ||||||
2 | Sec. 2-808. Judicial scrutiny of coupon and other noncash | ||||||
3 | settlements. The
court
may approve a proposed settlement under | ||||||
4 | which the class members receive
coupons or other similar | ||||||
5 | noncash benefits or would otherwise be required to
expend
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6 | funds to obtain part or all of the proposed benefits only after | ||||||
7 | a
hearing to
determine whether, and making a written finding | ||||||
8 | that, the settlement is fair,
reasonable,
and adequate for | ||||||
9 | class members.
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10 | (735 ILCS 5/2-809 new) | ||||||
11 | Sec. 2-809. Protection against loss by class members. The | ||||||
12 | court may
approve a
proposed settlement under which any class | ||||||
13 | member is obligated to pay sums to
class
counsel that would | ||||||
14 | result in a net loss to the class member only if the court
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15 | makes a
written finding that the nonmonetary benefits to the | ||||||
16 | class member outweigh the
monetary
loss.
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17 | (735 ILCS 5/2-810 new) | ||||||
18 | Sec. 2-810. Attorney's fees. Any attorney representing | ||||||
19 | any member or
members
of the plaintiff class in a class action | ||||||
20 | may seek payment of attorney's fees
and costs
pursuant to a | ||||||
21 | petition filed with the court. The court shall
make a
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22 | determination based on findings of fact that the amount | ||||||
23 | awarded for attorney's
fees and
costs is reasonable and |
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1 | commensurate with the benefits conferred upon the
members of
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2 | the class represented by the petitioners for
fees and
costs.
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