Court Opinion

ID: 9736612
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-26 19:01:04.978971+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T18:27:07.585907
License: Public Domain

JUSTICE CAMPBELL, specially concurring: I agree with the majority’s disposition of the case, but write separately to clarify two minor points. Our supreme court has held that an award of damages is excessive “if it falls outside the range of fair and reasonable compensation or results from passion or prejudice, or if it is so large that it shocks the judicial conscience.” (Emphases added.) Richardson v. Chapman, 175 Ill. 2d 98, 113 (1997). Richardson states a disjunctive standard, any part of which may, if met, warrant the rejection of a verdict. Moreover, as the majority opinion notes, the clear weight of authority in Illinois declines to compare verdicts in this context. Velarde v. Illinois Central R.R. Co., 354 Ill. App. 3d 523, 542-43. But see House v. Stocker, 34 Ill. App. 3d 740, 751 (1975) (a comparative examination of verdicts in many cases involving similar injuries may be used for purpose of confirming the reliability of our own judicial conscience). The determination of the issue requires a case-by-case approach. For example, having authored the opinion in Barton v. Chicago & North Western Transportation Co., 325 Ill. App. 3d 1005 (2001), cited in the majority opinion, I note that the award was upheld because the defendants failed to provide an adequate record for review. Barton, 325 Ill. App. 3d at 1042-43. In this case, even taking into account the evidence noted by the trial court in upholding the verdict, I conclude that the verdict falls outside the permissible range. The award does not shock my judicial conscience, but Illinois law does not require such to join the majority opinion.