Legal Question in Business Law in Illinois

Re: Statute of Limitations

This is really a choice of law/civil procedure question. A court will apply the statute of limitations for the state in which it sits. Thus, if the case was filed in IL, IL statute of limitations will control. If the case is filed in NY, NY statute of limitations will control. There are also other considerations here, such as if the IL or NY long arm statute can call a defendant to answer in its state. For example, if you file an action in IL for a breach of contract that was signed and executed in Iowa, an IL court may refuse to require the defendant to answer the complaint in IL because the defendant may not have had "such minimal contacts" with the state of IL. Further, if the case is filed in federal court (based on diversity of citizenship and an amount over $75,000), then the federal court will apply the statute of limitations of the state in which it sits provided that the case was not brought there for the purpose of "fourm shopping" (a fancy way of saying that the plaintiff filed the action in that court for the purpose of extending the statute of limitations or for the purpose of seeking the application of other favorable laws or procedures, as opposed filing in the court based on the location of the action, witnesses, evidence, etc). Hope this helped. Justin Lampel (847)845-4345