Schwartz v. Swan
Illinois Appellate Court
211 N.E.2d 122 (1965)
- Written by Joseph Bowman, JD
Facts
Bray (defendant) and Swan (defendant) allegedly caused an automobile accident, which injured Dorothy Schwartz (Dorothy) (plaintiff). Ten days later, Dorothy was involved in another automobile accident, which was allegedly caused by Polivick (defendant). Dorothy then sued Bray, Swan, and Polivick jointly. Bray, Swan, and Polivick filed motions to sever the single action into two, one for the first accident and one for the second. They argued that the jury could be confused by the complexity of the case as not all defendants are culpable for the harm alleged. Dorothy argued that there was no way to distinguish between which accident caused or contributed to her injuries. The trial judge severed the case without providing a rationale. Dorothy appealed.
Rule of Law
Issue
Holding and Reasoning (Goldenhersh, J.)
What to do next…
Here's why 811,000 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.
