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Copeland v. Stebco Products Corp.9/29/2000
ts, plaintiff's attorney referred to the Rachel Barton case. The trial court sustained defendant's objection to counsel's reference to the Rachel Barton case. However, defendant moved for a mistrial which was denied. The jury returned a verdict of $3,023,000 in favor of plaintiff and apportioned fault on the third-party claim of contribution with 60% to Stebco and 40% to Jiun Long.
ANALYSIS
I. Did Plaintiff's Failure to Disclose Violate Supreme Court Rule 213?
Defendant argues that plaintiff's violation of Rule 213 denied defendant a fair trial and the trial court should have declared a mistrial after Brickman testified to the jury about undisclosed tests on the luggage carrier. Plaintiff claims there was no Rule 213 violation because her expert's opinion did not change following the undisclosed tests and measurements. Admission of evidence pursuant to Rule 213 is within the trial court's discretion and the court's ruling will not be reversed absent an abuse of discretion. Department of Transportation v. Crull, 294 Ill. App. 3d 531, 537 (1998).
We begin with the basic premise that the goal of the discovery process in Illinois is full disclosure. Buehler v. Whalen, 70 Ill. 2d 51, 67 (1977). Supreme court rules on discovery are mandatory rules of procedure that courts and counsel must follow. Warrender v. Millsop, 304 Ill. App. 3d 260, 265 (1999). "Discovery is not a tactical game; rather, it is intended to be a mechanism for the ascertainment of truth, for the purpose of promoting either a fair settlement or a fair trial." Boland v. Kawasaki Motors Manufacturing Corp., USA, 309 Ill. App. 3d 645, 651 (2000). More specifically, the purpose of the discovery rules requiring timely disclosure of expert witnesses and their opinions is to avoid surprise and to discourage strategic gamesmanship. Warrender, 304 Ill. App. 3d at 269.
Supreme Court Rule 213 requires that, upon written interrogatory, a party must disclose the subject matter, conclusions, opinions, bases for the opinions, qualifications, and all reports of a witness who will offer any opinion testimony and seasonably supplement any previous answers when additional information becomes known. 166 Ill. 2d R. 213; McGrew v. Pearlman, 304 Ill. App. 3d 697, 705 (1999). Subsections (g) and (i) provide as follows:
"(g) Opinion Witness. An opinion witness is a person who will offer any opinion testimony. Upon written interrogatory, the party must state:
(i) the subject matter on which the opinion witness is expected to testify;
(ii) the conclusions and opinions of the opinion witness and the bases therefor; and
(iii) the qualifications of the opinion witness; and provide all reports of the opinion witness.
(i) Duty to Supplement. A party has a duty to seasonably supplement or amend any prior answer or response whenever new or additional information subsequently becomes known to that party." 166 Ill. 2d Rs. 213(g),(i).
The committee comments to Rule 213 state that one of the purposes of Rule 213 is to avoid surprise: "It is the Committee's belief that in order to avoid surprise, the subject matter of all opinions must be disclosed pursuant to this rule and Supreme Court Rule 218, and that no new or additional opinions will be allowed unless the interests of justice require otherwise." 166 Ill. 2d R. 213(g), Committee Comments. The express language of Rule 213 additionally imposes an obligation on a party to supplement discovery whenever new or additional information becomes known to that party. 166 Ill. 2d R. 213(i). Therefore, Rule 213 is mandatory and strict compliance is required. Crull, 294 Ill. App. 3d at 537; Adami v. Be
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