All top Chicago Wrongful Death Lawyers should be aware of relatively recent amendments to the Illinois Wrongful Death Act, which now allows jurors to award damages for “grief, sorrow, and mental suffering.”
Prior to this amendment, such recovery was impermissible in wrongful death actions. In fact, jurors were were previously instructed according to Illinois Pattern Jury Instruction (Civil) IPI 31.07, that in wrongful death actions, jurors may not consider the “grief or sorrow of the widow and next of kin” in determining “pecuniary loss.”
However, the recent amendment to the Illinois Wrongful Death Act now provides that jurors “may give such damages as they shall deem fair and just compensation with reference to the pecuniary injuries resulting from such death, including damages for grief, sorrow, and mental suffering, to the surviving spouse and next of kin of such deceased person.” 740 ILCS 180/2.
