 |
 |
to fill out a simple form to connect to Personal Injury Lawyers in your area.
|
|
|
|
|
City of Chicago v. Beretta U.S.A. Corp.11/18/2004
nsion of the law of public nuisance. See Spitzer, 309 A.D.2d at 104-05, 761 N.Y.S.2d at 202-03 (expanding the reach of common law public nuisance in the manner urged by plaintiff would reach well beyond these defendants to "countless other types of commercial enterprises, in order to address a myriad of societal problems").
We hold, therefore, that with respect to the defendant manufacturers and distributors, plaintiffs have failed to state a cause of action for public nuisance predicated on negligence, because these defendants owe no duty to the city of Chicago or its residents to prevent their firearms from "ending up in the hands of persons who use and possess them illegally." This result is consistent with Riordan and Linton, in which the theories of liability included, inter alia, negligence, products liability, and negligent distribution, but did not include public or private nuisance. The appellate court in these cases held that the defendant firearms manufacturers and distributors owed no duty to individual members of the public to control the distribution of handguns. Riordan, 132 Ill. App. 3d at 647; Linton, 127 Ill. App. 3d at 679.
The second amended complaint does contain specific factual allegations regarding transactions engaged in by the dealer defendants that, although not illegal, are suggestive of a willingness to serve customers who may intend to circumvent the law. Thus, the first factor, reasonable foreseeability of injury (Bajwa, 208 Ill. 2d at 427), is arguably stronger with respect to the dealer defendants than with respect to the other groups of defendants. In addition, the relief sought against the dealer defendants is somewhat less burdensome. Only the fourth factor, the consequences of placing that burden on the defendant (Bajwa, 208 Ill. 2d at 427), weighs heavily against imposing a duty upon the dealer defendants. The decisions in Riordan and Linton are not relevant because neither case involved a defendant who was a retailer of firearms. Because the question of foreseeability plays a pivotal role not only in the question of the existence of a duty but also in the determination of legal cause, we leave this question unanswered for the moment and turn to the question of whether plaintiffs have sufficiently pleaded the element of proximate cause with respect to the dealer defendants.
E. Proximate Cause
Leaving aside the question of duty, the remaining element of the public nuisance claim that must be present before injunctive relief against the dealer defendants may be available is "resulting injury " (see Gilmore, 261 Ill. App. 3d at 661), or, more precisely, proximate cause. The term "proximate cause" encompasses two distinct requirements: cause in fact and legal cause. Lee v. Chicago Transit Authority, 152 Ill. 2d 432, 455 (1992). The first requirement, cause in fact, is present "when there is a reasonable certainty that a defendant's acts caused the injury or damage." Lee, 152 Ill. 2d at 455. In deciding this question, we first ask whether the injury would have occurred absent the defendant's conduct. Lee, 152 Ill. 2d at 455. In addition, when, as here, there are multiple factors that may have combined to cause the injury, we ask whether defendant's conduct was a material element and a substantial factor in bringing about the injury. Lee, 152 Ill. 2d at 455.
The second requirement, legal cause, is established only if the defendant's conduct is " `so closely tied to the plaintiff's injury that he should be held legally responsible for it.' " Simmons v. Garces, 198 Ill. 2d 541, 558 (2002), quoting McCraw v. Cegielski, 287 Ill. App. 3d 871, 873 (1996). The question is one of policy-How far should a defendant's legal responsibilit
Page 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 Illinois Personal Injury Attorneys
Personal Injury Lawyers
|
| |
to fill out a simple form to connect to Personal Injury Lawyers in your area.
|
|
By using the system, you agree to TERMS OF SERVICE
|