Court Opinion

ID: 9859919
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-09-24 22:58:07.36939+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T11:09:53.337320
License: Public Domain

PRESIDING JUSTICE STEIGMANN, specially concurring: Although I fully concur, I write separately to express my concern about the time and effort judges and lawyers continue to spend regarding Rule 220. I am fully aware of the goals the Supreme Court of Illinois had in mind when it promulgated Rule 220 — elimination of surprise, easier and more effective preparation for trial, better utilization of discovery procedures — but the volume of litigation Rule 220 has caused reveals that it has not achieved these goals. I suggest that the time has come for the court to rethink this entire subject and to provide a rule regarding expert testimony which is clear, easy to understand, and easy to apply. The rule I propose has the attractiveness of being a “bright-line” rule: Before a party may elicit an expert opinion at trial from a witness that party has called to testify, that party must disclose in advance of trial (at whatever the supreme court determines that point to be) the existence of the expert witness and the nature of the testimony the expert witness will be expected to give. A party’s failure to so disclose, absent the most exigent circumstances, would prohibit that witness from providing any expert testimony. The beauty of this rule is in its simplicity and ease of use. It would no longer matter (1) what the expert witness’ connection might be to the parties, (2) whether the expert witness had been retained “in anticipation of litigation or preparation for trial” (134 Ill. 2d R. 220(aX2)), or (3) whether the expert witness was a treating physician or an examining physician. I further suggest that my proposed rule is consistent with “real world” experience: lawyers do not call expert witnesses to testify “on a hunch.” Instead, almost without exception a lawyer has talked to her expert witness well in advance of trial and knows precisely what expert opinion she wishes to elicit from that witness. In my judgment, most of the problems associated with the application of Rule 220 arise from lawyers’ playing games with the rule by trying to utilize one of the rule’s exceptions so they can conceal their intent to elicit an expert opinion. To end the constant litigation and waste of resources caused by such conduct and to fulfill the original goals of the supreme court when it promulgated Rule 220, that rule should be amended to require absolute disclosure well in advance of trial of all witnesses who will be asked to render an expert opinion, without exception. Only two classes of lawyers will be hurt if the supreme court adopted this proposed rule: (1) lawyers who through their “gamesmanship” attempt to withhold the identity of their experts until the last possible moment (sometimes even until the trial itself) to obtain a tactical advantage, and (2) lawyers too stupid to know that they need an expert witness for their case or too negligent to seek one out in a timely fashion. Neither of these classes is deserving of the supreme court’s protection or concern.