Governor Signs CTA Section 41 Notice Repeal
On Monday, June 1, Governor Pat Quinn signed Senate Bill 84 (CTA Section 41 Notice Repeal) into law. SB 84 is now Public Act 96-0012. P.A. 96-0012 was sponsored by Senator Ira Silverstein and Representative Al Riley (ITLA Legislative Bulletin 6/3).
P.A. 96-0012 repeals in its entirety the notice requirement in Section 41. The one-year statute of limitations for filing suit against the CTA still applies. The repeal will only apply to causes of action that accrue on or after the effective date of June 1, 2009.
The primary issue with the previous law is adequately communicated by the Illinois Trial Lawyer Association (ITLA) President Philip Harnett Corboy, Jr. as follows: "This legislation has corrected an outdated, but nevertheless, very dangerous statute. The now-repealed CTA Notice Requirement had become an extra layer of aggravation that oftentimes trapped innocent victims of negligent behavior by the CTA. Under that statute, trial judges had no discretion but to throw out cases where claimants- or their attorneys- made otherwise innocent mistakes on the pre-suit notice. Now we can concentrate our efforts on prosecuting the claims where they should be- before a judge and jury.”
This is an excellent change in the law for victims of CTA accidents in Chicago. Under the old law, lawyers had to file a formal notice with very specific requirements with the CTA to preserve the action. Even the smallest error could result in a case being dismissed on a minor technicality. This change in the law will allow all injured victims of CTA negligence to get a full and fair hearing in court.
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