Bill Text: IL HB3879 | 2011-2012 | 97th General Assembly | Introduced

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Bill Title: Amends the Consumer Fraud and Deceptive Business Practices Act and the Uniform Deceptive Trade Practices Act. Provides the allowable hourly rates for attorney's fees awarded under both Acts. Provides a calculation to adjust the prices annually starting in calendar year 2013. Effective immediately.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)

Status: (Failed) 2013-01-08 - Session Sine Die [HB3879 Detail]

Download: Illinois-2011-HB3879-Introduced.html

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97TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY State of Illinois 2011 and 2012 HB3879 Introduced , by Rep. André M. Thapedi SYNOPSIS AS INTRODUCED:
815 ILCS 505/10e new
815 ILCS 510/3.5 new
Amends the Consumer Fraud and Deceptive Business Practices Act and the Uniform Deceptive Trade Practices Act. Provides the allowable hourly rates for attorney's fees awarded under both Acts. Provides a calculation to adjust the prices annually starting in calendar year 2013. Effective immediately.
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A BILL FOR
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AN ACT concerning business.
Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
represented in the General Assembly:
Section 5. The Consumer Fraud and Deceptive Business
Practices Act is amended by adding Section 10e as follows:
(815 ILCS 505/10e new)
Sec. 10e. Attorney's fees.
(a) The hourly rate of reasonable attorney's fees awarded
under this Act shall be calculated as follows:
(1) $475 an hour for very experienced litigators, i.e.,
lawyers in their 20th year or thereafter following
graduation from law school;
(2) $420 an hour for experienced litigators in their
11th through 19th years after law school graduation;
(3) $335 an hour for experienced litigators in their
8th through 10th years after graduation from law school;
(4) $275 an hour for senior associates, i.e., 4 to 7
years after graduation from law school;
(5) $230 an hour for junior associates, i.e., 1 to 3
years after law school graduation; and
(6) $135 an hour for paralegals and law clerks.
(b) The hourly rates set forth in this Section shall be
increased annually by adding the change in the cost of living

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for the Chicago area to the applicable hourly rate for the
prior year, rounding to the nearest multiple of $5 (up if
within $3 of the next multiple of $5). The result shall be
subject to adjustment if appropriate to ensure that the
relationship between the higher rate and the lower rates
remains reasonably constant. Hourly rates shall be annually
increased as provided in this subsection (b) starting in
calendar year 2013.
For the purposes of this Section, "changes in the cost of
living for the Chicago area" means the change measured by the
Consumer Price Index For All Urban Consumers (CPI-U) for
Chicago-Joliet-Naperville, IL (Metropolitan division), as
announced by the Bureau of Labor Statistics in May of each
year.
(c) In determining the base level of the hourly rate
allowed under subsection (a), the level of an attorney's
experience shall be his or her experience on the date the work
for which compensation is sought is performed.
Section 10. The Uniform Deceptive Trade Practices Act is
amended by adding Section 3.5 as follows:
(815 ILCS 510/3.5 new)
Sec. 3.5. Attorney's fees.
(a) The hourly rate of reasonable attorney's fees awarded
under this Act shall be calculated as follows:

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(1) $475 an hour for very experienced litigators, i.e.,
lawyers in their 20th year or thereafter following
graduation from law school;
(2) $420 an hour for experienced litigators in their
11th through 19th years after law school graduation;
(3) $335 an hour for experienced litigators in their
8th through 10th years after graduation from law school;
(4) $275 an hour for senior associates, i.e., 4 to 7
years after graduation from law school;
(5) $230 an hour for junior associates, i.e., 1 to 3
years after law school graduation; and
(6) $135 an hour for paralegals and law clerks.
(b) The hourly rates set forth in this Section shall be
increased annually by adding the change in the cost of living
for the Chicago area to the applicable hourly rate for the
prior year, rounding to the nearest multiple of $5 (up if
within $3 of the next multiple of $5). The result shall be
subject to adjustment if appropriate to ensure that the
relationship between the higher rate and the lower rates
remains reasonably constant. Hourly rates shall be annually
increased as provided in this subsection (b) starting in
calendar year 2013.
For the purposes of this Section, "changes in the cost of
living for the Chicago area" means the change measured by the
Consumer Price Index For All Urban Consumers (CPI-U) for
Chicago-Joliet-Naperville, IL (Metropolitan division), as

HB3879 - 4 - LRB097 14440 AEK 59542 b
announced by the Bureau of Labor Statistics in May of each
year.
(c) In determining the base level of the hourly rate
allowed under subsection (a), the level of an attorney's
experience shall be his or her experience on the date the work
for which compensation is sought is performed.
Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect upon
becoming law.