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56 Ill. App. 3d 4

371 N.E.2d 978

13 Ill.Dec. 886

Walton v. Norphlett

Appellate Court of Illinois

Decided December 22, 1977

Appellate Court of Illinois · decided 1977-12-22

Key passage — most relied on by later courts

““[T]he duty of the Appellate Court of Illinois is not to modify rules of law enunciated by our supreme court, but to follow them.””

quoted by 1 later decision, including 154 Ill. App. 3d 574 - Harris Trust & Savings Bank v. Phillips

Relies on 66 Ill. 2d 103 - Washington v. Atlantic Richfield Co. · 84 Ill. App. 2d 336 - Belden Manufacturing Co. v. Chicago Threaded Fasteners, Inc. · 118 Ill. App. 2d 294 - Sims v. Sneed

Good law ✅— No negative treatment on recordhow we know

Decided 1977-12-22

How this case has been cited

Cited by 14 later decisions — most recently November 2004

14 state decisions

601977198019902000decided

Later decisions citing this case, by decade. The current decade is in progress, and our corpus holds fewer opinions from the most recent years, so the latest bars are undercounted — not a real decline.

View the full empirical analysis of this case →

Mr. PRESIDING JUSTICE DIERINGER

¶1delivered the opinion of the court:

¶2This is an appeal from the circuit court of Cook County. The trial court granted defendant’s motion for summary judgment. The plaintiff appeals.

¶3The sole issue presented for review is whether this court should overturn over 100 years of well-settled Illinois law and rule a homeowner owes a duty to a licensee who enters upon his property, said duty being to make the property safe.

¶4The facts of the case are undisputed. The defendant, Estelle Norphlett, invited the plaintiff, Lillian Walton, to her home for dinner. The plaintiff, while leaving the home of the defendant, slipped on a portion of the concrete stairs which was broken, fell and injured herself.

¶5 The plaintiff argues it is time for the courts of Illinois to make a homeowner liable for acts of ordinary negligence. The plaintiff concedes the law in Illinois now makes the occupier of land liable only for willful and wanton negligence to one who enters upon his land, as a licensee. While this court finds itself in sympathy with this contention of the plaintiff, it is not for this court to reverse the many cases and opinions of the Illinois Supreme Court. The cases cited by the defendant, Sims v. Sneed (1969), 118 Ill. App. 2d 294, Belden Manufacturing Co. v. Chicago Threaded Fasteners, Inc. (1967), 84 Ill. App. 2d 336, correctly point out the duty of the Appellate Court of Illinois is not to modify rules of law enunciated by our supreme court, but to follow them. What the plaintiff asks this court to do is not within the power of this court.

¶6As both sides correctly state in their briefs, the law in Illinois is the occupier of land is only liable for willful and wanton misconduct towards a licensee. Both sides agree there was no willful and wanton misconduct in the instant case. Following the rule of law long established in Illinois and recently enunciated again by the supreme court in Washington v. Atlantic Richfield Co. (1976), 66 Ill. 2d 103, we must affirm the decision of the trial court.

¶7Accordingly, for the reasons contained herein, the judgment of the circuit court of Cook County is affirmed.

¶8Affirmed.

¶9JOHNSON, J., concurs.

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