For the past two weeks, we’ve been reviewing the government’s winning percentage as the appellant in civil cases at the Illinois Supreme Court.  Today, we finish our review with the years 2011 through 2016.

In 2011, the government won its only domestic relations case as an appellant.  Governmental entities won two of three cases in government and administrative law, and one of two cases in tax and constitutional law.  The government lost its one case in employment law.  In 2012, the government won three of three cases in government and administrative law, plus its only cases in environmental law and wills and estates law.  The government won two of three cases in tort law, but lost its one civil procedure case.

In 2013, governmental entities won both their tax law cases and both their employment law cases.  They won three of five cases in government and administrative law, for a winning percentage of 60%.  They hit .500 in constitutional law cases, winning one of two, but lost single cases in civil procedure and workers compensation.  The court didn’t hear many cases initiated by governmental entities in 2014.  The government won single cases in government and administrative law, tort law and constitutional law, while splitting their two cases involving civil procedure.

For most of our study period, the court has tended to be fairly receptive to government appeals in government and administrative law.  The principal outlier to that trend was 2015, when the government brought four government and administrative law appeals to the court and lost all four.  The government won two of three constitutional law cases that year, won single cases in tort law and civil procedure, won a lone case in insurance law and lost a workers compensation case.  In 2016, the government’s luck turned in government and administrative law cases, as it won three of four.  The only other cases that year with government appellants were in constitutional law, where the government won one of two.

Join us back here next Tuesday as we turn our attention to a new question.

Image courtesy of Flickr by Brad Tutterow (no changes).