Stonecrafters, Inc. v. Wholesale Life Insurance Brokerage, Inc.

This interlocutory appeal, brought pursuant to Supreme Court Rule 308 (155 Ill. 2d R. 308), involves two certified questions that are based on Guillen v. Potomac Insurance Co. of Illinois, 203 Ill. 2d 141 (2003). First, is a liability insurer that has breached its duty to defend an underlying lawsuit and is estopped from raising any coverage defense also collaterally estopped from challenging the trial court’s express finding of the reasonableness of the underlying settlement between the insured and the plaintiff? Second, if not, can the trial court permit the insurer to take discovery…