Sen. Denny Jacobs
Filed: 5/12/2004
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1 | AMENDMENT TO HOUSE BILL 4847
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2 | AMENDMENT NO. ______. Amend House Bill 4847, AS AMENDED, | ||||||
3 | with reference to page and line numbers of Senate Amendment No. | ||||||
4 | 1, on page 32, immediately below line 26, by inserting the | ||||||
5 | following:
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6 | "Section 20. The Circuit Courts Act is amended by adding | ||||||
7 | Section 40 as follows: | ||||||
8 | (705 ILCS 35/40 new) | ||||||
9 | Sec. 40. Medical malpractice circuit court pilot program.
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10 | (a) As a pilot program beginning January 1, 2005, a medical | ||||||
11 | malpractice circuit court shall be established in the Fifth | ||||||
12 | Appellate District of the State, the jurisdiction of which is | ||||||
13 | limited solely to medical malpractice actions within the | ||||||
14 | counties comprising that appellate district. The medical | ||||||
15 | malpractice circuit court shall be located in the same | ||||||
16 | municipality where the Fifth Appellate District's appellate | ||||||
17 | court is located. The medical malpractice circuit court may | ||||||
18 | convene anywhere within the Fifth Appellate District as the | ||||||
19 | convenience of the court and parties may warrant. | ||||||
20 | (b) Up to 7 circuit judges in the Fifth Appellate District | ||||||
21 | shall be assigned to the medical malpractice circuit court by | ||||||
22 | the Supreme Court. | ||||||
23 | To be eligible to serve as a medical malpractice circuit | ||||||
24 | judge, a person must be a circuit judge within the Fifth |
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1 | Appellate District and must have (i) at least 10 years' | ||||||
2 | experience as a judge in Illinois, at least 5 of those years | ||||||
3 | handling medical malpractice cases, (ii) at least 10 years' | ||||||
4 | experience as an Illinois attorney specializing in medical | ||||||
5 | malpractice law, or (iii) at least 15 years' combined | ||||||
6 | experience as a judge in Illinois and an Illinois attorney | ||||||
7 | specializing in medical malpractice law. | ||||||
8 | The Supreme Court shall assign circuit judges to the | ||||||
9 | medical malpractice circuit court by December 1, 2004. The | ||||||
10 | Supreme Court may assign associate judges to the medical | ||||||
11 | malpractice court as necessary; those associate judges must | ||||||
12 | meet the qualifications required by this subsection for circuit | ||||||
13 | judges. | ||||||
14 | (c) The medical malpractice circuit court shall have a jury | ||||||
15 | administrator who shall work with the circuit court jury | ||||||
16 | commissions of the Fifth Appellate District to assure that each | ||||||
17 | jury pool for the medical malpractice circuit court is drawn | ||||||
18 | from the entire area comprising that district. | ||||||
19 | (d) No later than January 1, 2005 and until December 31, | ||||||
20 | 2008, all new medical malpractice cases in the circuits | ||||||
21 | comprising the Fifth Appellate District must be filed with the | ||||||
22 | medical malpractice circuit court. A party may by motion | ||||||
23 | request that a medical malpractice case pending before January | ||||||
24 | 1, 2005 be transferred to the medical malpractice circuit | ||||||
25 | court. That motion shall be granted unless it would cause | ||||||
26 | extreme detriment to a party. Cases pending in the medical | ||||||
27 | malpractice circuit court on December 31, 2008 shall remain in | ||||||
28 | that court unless otherwise transferred; the medical | ||||||
29 | malpractice circuit court shall cease to exist upon its | ||||||
30 | disposition of all cases pending in that court on December 31, | ||||||
31 | 2008. | ||||||
32 | (e) By July 1, 2007, the Supreme Court shall report to the | ||||||
33 | Governor and the General Assembly on (i) the effectiveness of | ||||||
34 | the medical malpractice circuit court; (ii) the number of cases |
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1 | heard in the court; (iii) the length of time those cases were | ||||||
2 | in the court system; (iv) whether the pilot program should be | ||||||
3 | continued in the Fifth Appellate District; and (v) whether the | ||||||
4 | pilot program should be extended to other appellate districts. | ||||||
5 | (f) The Supreme Court may adopt rules for the | ||||||
6 | implementation of this Section. "; and
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7 | on page 52, line 21, after "law", by inserting ", except that | ||||||
8 | the changes made to Section 40 of the Circuit Courts Act take | ||||||
9 | effect on July 1, 2004".
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