Freeborn Attorneys Win Big Victory in the Illinois Supreme Court

On Thursday October 21, 2010, the Illinois Supreme Court reversed the judgments of both the trial court and the Appellate Court in a defamation case against a Freeborn client in Wright Development Group, LLC v. John Walsh,  -- N.E.2d --, 2010 WL 4125655 (2010).  Freeborn represented defendant John Walsh in a defamation claim brought by a real estate developer against Walsh, the Sun Times Media Group and Pioneer Newspapers, Inc., for comments Walsh made to a newspaper reporter while he attended a public forum held at Alderman Marianne Smith’s 48^th Ward office.

The case involved an issue of first impression for the Illinois Supreme Court because it involved the application of a new immunity under Illinois’ new Anti-SLAPP statute, the Illinois Citizen Participation Act, 735 ILCS 110/1. The Supreme Court addressed the merits of Walsh’s immunity argument and found that Walsh properly established that his actions fell within the protective fold of the new statute. Further, because Walsh is now the prevailing party, the Court remanded the case to the trial court to enter an order requiring Wright Development Group, LLC to pay Freeborn & Peters’ reasonable costs and attorney's fees. The Illinois Citizen Participation Act is a powerful new piece of legislation. Every potential litigant, particularly those in the business community, need to be aware of the scope of immunity under this new law.