Illinois Supreme Court: An Analysis of Recent Trends
White Paper on the Illinois Supreme Court
White Paper on the Illinois Supreme Court
In October 2004, we examined the jurisprudence of the Illinois Supreme Court to discern the Court’s outlook: was this an “activist” court, or one prone to judicial “restraint,” or did it fall somewhere in between? Our overall purpose was to discern whether the Court was exercising a truly judicial function—“to say what the law is”—without regard to outcome, or usurping legislative or executive functions that are the province of those other branches. Today, we revisit our prior analysis by examining some key decisions since 2004 that are illustrative of the Court’s current judicial philosophy.
Senior Attorney, Sensient Technologies Corporation
Associate, Jones Day
Tara Fumerton has a broad range of experience in complex civil litigation, intellectual property law, and corporate internal investigations. Tara has litigated cases in state and federal courts involving class actions, fraud, federal and state False Claims Acts, RICO, patent litigation, and nationwide federal cases consolidated by the Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation (so-called "MDL" cases). For several years, she has represented pharmaceutical companies in lawsuits throughout the country brought by private and government plaintiffs dealing with Medicare, Medicaid, and private insurance reimbursement. With respect to intellectual property law, her experience has primarily involved patent litigation involving semiconductors and semiconductor processing technologies. She also has represented a number of individual and corporate clients in internal and criminal investigations on a diverse range of topics. She has significant experience in managing complex discovery matters; taking, defending, and preparing witnesses for depositions; working with experts; and arguing motions before the court. In addition, she has drafted countless motions of all kinds in state and federal court, including mandamus petitions before the Texas Supreme Court.
Tara is a member of the Illinois Bar Association and The Chicago Bar Association.