Sen. John J. Cullerton
Filed: 5/26/2004
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1 | AMENDMENT TO HOUSE BILL 1191
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2 | AMENDMENT NO. ______. Amend House Bill 1191 by replacing | ||||||
3 | everything after the enacting clause with the following:
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4 | "Section 5. The Code of Civil Procedure is amended by | ||||||
5 | adding Section 2-1021 as follows: | ||||||
6 | (735 ILCS 5/2-1021 new) | ||||||
7 | Sec. 2-1021. Product liability; confidentiality orders. | ||||||
8 | (a) As used in this Section, "product liability action" | ||||||
9 | means a lawsuit for damages for personal injury or wrongful | ||||||
10 | death caused by an instrumentality, a device, an instrument, a | ||||||
11 | product, or a condition of an instrumentality, a device, an | ||||||
12 | instrument, or a product that has caused and is likely to cause | ||||||
13 | personal injury or death in other members of the public. | ||||||
14 | (b) As used in this Section, "confidentiality order" means | ||||||
15 | a court order that limits the disclosure or dissemination of | ||||||
16 | information obtained through discovery in a product liability | ||||||
17 | action. | ||||||
18 | (c) For good cause shown, a party required to respond to | ||||||
19 | discovery in a product liability action may obtain a | ||||||
20 | confidentiality order. If the court finds that such a | ||||||
21 | confidentiality order is appropriate, the order shall be | ||||||
22 | narrowly drafted and may permit the subsequent designation of | ||||||
23 | specific confidential materials. The party requesting the | ||||||
24 | materials shall object with reasonable particularity to any |
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1 | such designation of confidential materials that do not meet the | ||||||
2 | standard in subsection (d). | ||||||
3 | (d) Upon objection of a party to a designation that limits | ||||||
4 | disclosure or dissemination of materials under a | ||||||
5 | confidentiality order, the party seeking to limit disclosure or | ||||||
6 | dissemination pursuant to a claim of confidentiality must | ||||||
7 | demonstrate to the court, by a preponderance of the evidence, a | ||||||
8 | specific, serious, and substantial interest in confidentiality | ||||||
9 | that outweighs the adverse effect of confidentiality upon the | ||||||
10 | general public health or safety. The court shall make written | ||||||
11 | findings in support of its decision to grant or deny | ||||||
12 | confidentiality. The party seeking a confidentiality order has | ||||||
13 | the right to appeal an order denying confidentiality, and any | ||||||
14 | such appeal shall be governed by Supreme Court Rule 307. | ||||||
15 | (e) Nothing in this Section precludes the use of | ||||||
16 | confidentiality orders to protect trade secrets, consistent | ||||||
17 | with the standard in subsection (d). | ||||||
18 | (f) No agreement or order resolving or terminating a | ||||||
19 | product liability action may require any party to keep | ||||||
20 | confidential any information that is not covered by a | ||||||
21 | confidentiality order, with the exception of information about | ||||||
22 | settlement amounts or other benefits provided under a | ||||||
23 | settlement agreement. Any provision of a settlement agreement | ||||||
24 | that violates this subsection (f) is severable from the | ||||||
25 | remainder of the agreement, notwithstanding any provision to | ||||||
26 | the contrary, and the remainder of the agreement shall remain | ||||||
27 | in force. | ||||||
28 | (g) Nothing in this Section shall affect the scope of | ||||||
29 | discovery under applicable court rules or the court's power to | ||||||
30 | supervise the discovery process. | ||||||
31 | (h) This Section does not apply to or affect laws or | ||||||
32 | regulations safeguarding the confidentiality of medical | ||||||
33 | records. | ||||||
34 | (i) This Section does not apply to healthcare services. |
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1 | (j) Any person who satisfies the requirements of Section | ||||||
2 | 2-408 of this Code may intervene in an action for the purpose | ||||||
3 | of challenging a confidentiality order. | ||||||
4 | (k) No person shall enter into an agreement to resolve a | ||||||
5 | potential product liability action if that agreement conceals | ||||||
6 | information, the disclosure of which is necessary to protect | ||||||
7 | the public health and safety. An agreement shall be void as | ||||||
8 | against public policy only upon a final judicial determination | ||||||
9 | that the agreement violates this subsection (k). | ||||||
10 | (l) This Section applies to all confidentiality orders and | ||||||
11 | all agreements entered into or executed with respect to product | ||||||
12 | liability actions on or after the effective date of this | ||||||
13 | amendatory Act of the 93rd General Assembly.
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14 | Section 97. Severability. The provisions of this Act are | ||||||
15 | severable under Section 1.31 of the Statute on Statutes.".
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