ISBA Bench & Bar Article: Appellate Court Clarifies “Sole Proximate Cause”
RSHC Partner Brian Watson explains “sole proximate cause” and the impact of the Appellate Court’s recent decision in the August 2018 Illinois State Bar Association Bench & Bar.
The article highlights the recent Appellate Court decision that the “sole proximate cause” of plaintiff’s injury may be something—other than the defendant—no matter their status in the lawsuit and no matter their number. The critical point is that something else was the proximate cause of plaintiff’s injury. And like any other causation question the plaintiff may take to a jury, “sole proximate cause” is one way the defendant may argue that the plaintiff failed to carry its burden of proof on causation. In Douglas v. Arlington Park Racecourse, LLC, the Appellate Court not only backed this argument but also supported a special jury question on “sole proximate cause.”