Johnson v. Saenz

725 N.E.2d 774 (2000)

Study Aids
Case Briefs Overview
Casebooks
Case Briefs
J
From our private database of 46,300+ case briefs, written and edited by humans—never with AI.

Johnson v. Saenz

Appellate Court of Illinois
725 N.E.2d 774 (2000)

DM

Facts

Carol Johnson (plaintiff) sued Bertha Saenz (defendant) in an Illinois state court for personal injuries resulting from a car accident. Under Illinois law, the case was subject to mandatory arbitration. Along with Johnson’s complaint, Saenz was served with a summons to appear at the Winnebago County courthouse for the arbitration. Due to a continuance, the arbitration was rescheduled in the arbitration center, which was located in a building down the street from the courthouse. Saenz’s attorney was present at the arbitration, but Saenz did not personally appear, in violation of a court rule. A majority of the arbitration panel decided for Johnson, and an award of $19,500 was entered in her favor. After the arbitration, Saenz’s attorney went to the courthouse on another matter and saw Saenz sitting in a courtroom. Saenz, who had a poor command of English, had mistakenly gone to the courthouse. A court employee had directed her to a particular courtroom and had not instructed her to go to the arbitration center. Saenz filed a notice to reject the arbitration award, which Johnson opposed on the ground that Saenz had failed to personally appear at the arbitration as required. The court agreed with Johnson and barred Saenz from rejecting the award. Saenz appealed.

Rule of Law

Issue

Holding and Reasoning (Colwell, J.)

What to do next…

  1. Unlock this case brief with a free (no-commitment) trial membership of Quimbee.

    You’ll be in good company: Quimbee is one of the most widely used and trusted sites for law students, serving more than 810,000 law students since 2011. Some law schools—such as Yale, Berkeley, and Northwestern—even subscribe directly to Quimbee for all their law students.

    Unlock this case briefRead our student testimonials

  2. Learn more about Quimbee’s unique (and proven) approach to achieving great grades at law school.

    Quimbee is a company hell-bent on one thing: helping you get an “A” in every course you take in law school, so you can graduate at the top of your class and get a high-paying law job. We’re not just a study aid for law students; we’re the study aid for law students.

    Learn about our approachRead more about Quimbee

Here's why 810,000 law students have relied on our case briefs:

  • Written by law professors and practitioners, not other law students. 46,300 briefs, keyed to 988 casebooks. Top-notch customer support.
  • The right amount of information, includes the facts, issues, rule of law, holding and reasoning, and any concurrences and dissents.
  • Access in your classes, works on your mobile and tablet. Massive library of related video lessons and high quality multiple-choice questions.
  • Easy to use, uniform format for every case brief. Written in plain English, not in legalese. Our briefs summarize and simplify; they don’t just repeat the court’s language.

Access this case brief for FREE

With a 7-day free trial membership
Here's why 810,000 law students have relied on our case briefs:
  • Reliable - written by law professors and practitioners, not other law students
  • The right length and amount of information - includes the facts, issue, rule of law, holding and reasoning, and any concurrences and dissents
  • Access in your class - works on your mobile and tablet
  • 46,300 briefs - keyed to 988 casebooks
  • Uniform format for every case brief
  • Written in plain English - not in legalese and not just repeating the court's language
  • Massive library of related video lessons - and practice questions
  • Top-notch customer support

Access this case brief for FREE

With a 7-day free trial membership

Casebooks

Civil Procedure