The Law Offices of James M. Freeman, P.C.

If you are injured on CTA property or as a result of CTA negligence you should be aware that CTA has special treatment under Illinois law.  A lawsuit against the CTA has certain differences from a suit involving only private parties.  Inidents occuring prior to June 1, 2009 are subject to special notice requirements, and all actions against the CTA are subject to a shortened statute of limitations.

On June 1, 2009, Illinois repealed Section 41 of the Illinois Metropolitan Transit Authority Act (70 ILCS 3605/41).  This section had imposed a special 6-month notice requirement in lawsuits against the CTA.

Section 41 required the injured person, or his or her attorney, to provide “the name of the person to whom the cause of action has accrued, the name and residence of the person injured, the date and about the hour of the accident, the place or location where the accident occurred and the name and address of the attending physician, if any.” The notice must have been given to the CTA within 6 months of the injury, and had to sent to both the Secretary of the Transit Board and the Office of the General Counsel of the CTA.

Any error in the filing was grounds for dismissal, and the injured party would be “forever barred from further suing,” which caused many legitimate negligence claims against the CTA to be thrown out.

The repeal of Section 41 eliminated the 6-month notice requirement, and increased the likelihood of those filing legitimate negligence claims to have their day in court, and be able to collect appropriate damages.  The repeal of Section 41 only applies to “causes of action that accrue on or after” June 1, 2009.  The repeal of this notice requirement was long overdo, however, the shortened one-year statute of limitations still applies to claims brought against the CTA.