Governmental immunity and the quest for a ‘willful and wanton’ escape hatch

Torts

By Colin H. Dunn

Colin H. Dunn is a partner at Clifford Law Offices who concentrates in personal injury and aviation law and handles complex and mass tort litigation. He can be reached at chd@cliffordlaw.com.

Posted August 27, 2014 3:45 PM

Updated August 28, 2014 8:55 AM

Whenever a governmental entity is sued, the plaintiff typically will have to tangle with one or more tort immunity provisions to be successful. There are three basic types of immunity: One that provides absolute, unqualified immunity — e.g., 745 ILCS 10/4-102 (“Neither a local public entity nor a public employee is liable for failure to establish a police department or otherwise provide police protection service or, if police protection service is provided, for failure to provide adequate police …

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