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Professional Liability Blog

We explore and analyze current issues and relevant topics to help accountants, attorneys, architects and engineers, insurance agents and real estate brokers avoid a professional liability case.

Professional Liability Blog
December 4, 2016

Statute of Limitation and Statute of Repose Expired? Not So Fast! A Medical Malpractice Claim May RELATE Back!

In a matter of first impression, the Illinois Appellate Court in Lawler v. University of Chicago Medical Center had to determine whether Illinois’ medical malpractice statute of repose bars applying the “relation back” doctrine to add a new claim under the Illinois Wrongful Death Act. The relation back doctrine allows an original, timely filed pleading to be amended any time before final judgment, as long as the amendment “relates back” to the original complaint. In Lawler, the appellate court decided to apply the doctrine—but now the Supreme Court of Illinois has decided it’s time for a weigh-in.