Avery v. State Farm Mut. Auto. Ins. Co.
Decision Date | 26 September 2005 |
Docket Number | No. 91494.,91494. |
Parties | Michael AVERY et al., Appellees, v. STATE FARM MUTUAL AUTOMOBILE INSURANCE COMPANY, Appellant. |
Court | Illinois Supreme Court |
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Michele Odorizzi, Bradley J. Andreozzi, Allan Erbsen, of Mayer, Brown, Rowe & Maw, William R. Quinlan, of Quinlan & Carroll, Ltd., Marci A. Eisenstein, Aphrodite Kokolis, of Schiff, Hardin & Waite, Gino L. DiVito, of Tabet, DiVito & Rothstein, L.L.C., Chicago, Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom (Wayne W. Whalen, Edward M. Crane, Gregory S. Bailey, Chicago, Sheila L. Birnbaum, Douglas W. Dunham, New York, New York, of counsel), Robert H. Shultz, Jr., of Heyl, Royster, Voelker & Allen, Edwardsville, for appellant.
Michael B. Hyman, William H. London, Melinda J. Morales, of Much, Shelist, Freed, Denenberg, Ament & Rubenstein, P.C., Robert A. Clifford, Robert P. Sheridan, of Clifford Law Offices, Chicago, Patricia Murphy, of Marion, Edward J. Kionka, Carbondale, Elizabeth A. Cabraser, Morris A. Ratner, Scott P. Nealey, of Lieff, Cabraser, Heimann & Bernstein, L.L.P., San Francisco, California, for appellees.
Richard F. Record, Jr., Stephen L. Corn, of Craig & Craig, Mattoon, for amici curiae Department of Insurance of the State of North Carolina et al.
Robert H. King, Jr., Steven C. Coberly, of Greenberg Traurig, P.C., Chicago, for amicus curiae Alliance of American Insurers.
Jeffrey P. Lennard, Richard L. Fenton, Brett J. Hart, of Sonnenschein, Nath & Rosenthal, Chicago, for amicus curiae Allstate Insurance Company.
Brian L. Crowe, Patricia S. Spratt, of Shefsky & Froelich, Ltd., Chicago, Robin S. Conrad, Washington D.C., for amicus curiae Chamber of Commerce of the United States of America.
Iwan, Cray, Huber, Horstman & VanAusdal, L.L.C., Chicago (Elaine S. Vorberg, Michael D. Huber and James K. Horstman, of counsel), for amicus curiae Citizens for a Sound Economy Foundation.
Mitchell A. Orpett, Chicago (Tribler, Orpett & Crone, P.C., of counsel), for amicus curiae J. Lee Covington II, Superintendent of the Ohio Department of Insurance.
John H. Beisner, Marc E. Isserles, of O'Melveny & Myers, L.L.P., Washington, D.C., for amici curiae General Motors Corporation and Ford Motor Company.
J. William Lucco, Joseph R. Brown, Jr., of Lucco, Brown & Mudge, Edwardsville, David P. Gersch, of Arnold & Porter, Washington, D.C., Sheila Carmody, of Snell & Wilmer, Phoenix, Arizona, for amici curiae Government Employees Insurance Company et al.
James R. Thompson, Steven F. Molo, Norman K. Beck, Jon J. Kramer, of Winston & Strawn, Chicago, for amicus curiae Illinois Chamber of Commerce.
Robert N. Enoex, Springfield, for amicus curiae Illinois Department of Insurance.
& Kammholz, Chicago, for amicus curiae Illinois Manufacturers' Association.
Richard Hodyl, Jr., of Williams, Montgomery & John, Ltd., Chicago, for amici curiae National Association of Independent Insurers et al.
John W. Bauer, Kansas City, Missouri, for amicus curiae National Association of Insurance Commissioners.
Richard J. Rappaport, of Ross & Hardies, Chicago, for amici curiae Public Citizen, Inc. and The Center for Auto Safety.
John Lingner, of Kakacek & Lingner, Chicago, Daniel J. Popeo, Richard A. Samp, Washington, D.C., for amicus curiae Washington Legal Foundation.
J. Timothy Eaton, Kevin P. Shea, of Ungaretti & Harris, Chicago, for amici curiae National Conference of Insurance Legislators and The American Legislative Exchange Council.
Dmitry Feofanov, Dixon, F. Paul Bland, Jr., Washington, D.C., for amici curiae Trial Lawyers for Public Justice et al.
Jerome F. Crotty, of Rieck & Crotty, P.C., Chicago, for amici curiae Alliance of Automotive Service Providers National Association et al.
William J. Harte, Ltd., Joseph E. Tighe, P.C., and Sotiras & Mannix, Ltd., Chicago, for amicus curiae Illinois Trial Lawyers Association.
Lawrence S. Fischer, Chicago, Eugene Anderson, New York, New York, of Anderson, Kill & Olick, P.C., Amy Bach, Mill Valley, California, for amicus curiae United Policyholders.
Michael Avery and other named plaintiffs brought a class action in the circuit court of Williamson County against defendant, State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Company (State Farm). Representing a nearly nationwide class of State Farm policyholders, plaintiffs alleged claims sounding in breach of contract and statutory consumer fraud, in addition to a claim seeking declaratory and injunctive relief.
The circuit court certified the class. The breach of contract claim was tried before a jury, and the remaining claims received a simultaneous bench trial. The jury returned a verdict in favor of plaintiffs on the breach of contract claim, and the circuit court entered judgment in favor of plaintiffs on the consumer fraud claim. With regard to the third count, the circuit court granted declaratory relief but declined to grant injunctive relief. The damages awarded to plaintiffs totaled $1,186,180,000.
The appellate court affirmed the judgment, with one exception. The appellate court reversed a portion of the damages, lowering the total award to $1,056,180,000. 321 Ill.App.3d 269, 254 Ill.Dec. 194, 746 N.E.2d 1242. We allowed State Farm's petition for leave to appeal. 177 Ill.2d R. 315(a).
Plaintiffs' suit centers on certain automobile repair part categories which have been identified in the record and to which we refer throughout our discussion. "Crash parts" refers to automobile components that are used to replace parts damaged in a crash, rather than parts that have failed mechanically. They are primarily sheet metal and plastic parts that are attached to the outer shell of the car. Crash parts consist of two categories. The first category is comprised of new parts made by or on behalf of the automobile's original manufacturer. These parts are commonly referred to as "Original Equipment Manufacturer" parts, or "OEM" crash parts. The second class includes aftermarket parts made by companies not affiliated with original equipment manufacturers. These parts are referred to as "non-OEM" crash parts.1
A succinct general overview of plaintiffs' theory of the case may be found in "Plaintiff's Memorandum in Support of Application of Illinois Law to the Claims of Class Members Under Illinois Choice of Law Doctrine":
This opinion is divided into two principal sections: "Breach of Contract" and "Consumer Fraud." In a third section, we deal with plaintiffs' claims for declaratory and injunctive relief. These sections are further subdivided, as required by the various arguments and issues, as follows:
We begin with plaintiffs' breach of contract count.
Plaintiffs' original class action complaint, which was filed in July 1997, was amended several times. The trial, which took place in 1999, was predicated upon plaintiffs' third amended class action complaint. Count I (breach of contract) of the third amended complaint alleged that State Farm breached its "uniform insurance contract" with its policyholders. Plaintiffs alleged that, under the terms of this contract,...
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