Stevens v. Country Mutual Insurance

Defendant and counterplaintiff, Country Mutual Insurance Company (Country), appeals from the trial court’s March 2008 order, denying its motion for summary judgment and granting summary judgment in favor of plaintiff and counterdefendant, Matthew J. Stevens, for attorney fees under the common-fund doctrine and section 155 of the Illinois Insurance Code (Code) (215 ILCS 5/155 (West 2006)). Because we conclude that (1) Country benefitted from the creation of the common fund and (2) the court’s imposition of additional attorney fees pursuant to section 155 of the Code could have been based, in…