by: Anthony J. Longo
Published in: Chicago Daily Law Bulletin | October 16, 2017
In his latest installment of the “Procedural Thicket” column in the Chicago Daily Law Bulletin, Mr. Longo explores the origin of the “fishing expedition” – an oft repeated phrase by civil litigators when objecting to far reaching discovery. He chronicles the usage of the phrase in the English common law as well as the state of Illinois. He then discusses two fishing expedition cases decided by the Illinois Appellate Court – one which allowed the so-called fishing and one that did not.
Mr. Longo cautions that while fishing expeditions are indeed an unfortunate abuse of the discovery system, discovery tethered to the allegations of the complaint can never be so labeled.
