County of Cook Ex Rel. Rifkin v. Bear Stearns & Co.

This case presents questions of whether plaintiffs have standing to assert a cause of action on behalf of Cook County under article XX of the Code of Civil Procedure (735 ILCS 5/20 — 101 et seq. (West 1998)), and whether plaintiffs have standing to assert common law claims on behalf of the County. The circuit court of Cook County dismissed the complaint, finding article XX unconstitutional to the extent it conferred authority on private citizens to file derivative claims on behalf of the County. We allowed plaintiffs’ direct appeal pursuant to Supreme Court Rule 302(a) (134 Ill. 2d R.…