IL BAR Study Guide 2026

Res ipsa loquitur permits an inference of negligence when the accident is of a type that normally does not occur absent negligence, the instrumentality was under the defendant's exclusive control, and the plaintiff was not contributorily negligent.

Illinois courts enforce liquidated damages clauses when actual damages are difficult to ascertain at contracting and the stipulated amount is a reasonable estimate of probable loss, not a penalty.

In Illinois, the doctrine of adverse possession allows a person to acquire legal title to another's land by possessing it for a statutory period, which is typically 20 years. This possession must be actual, open and notorious, exclusive, hostile, and continuous throughout the statutory period. Meeting these specific conditions, rather than simply claiming land, is essential for gaining ownership.

Promissory estoppel requires a clear promise, foreseeable and actual reliance by the promisee to their detriment, and injustice that can only be avoided by enforcement.

Under Daubert and FRE 702, a court must find that the expert's reliable principles and methods have been reliably applied to the specific facts of the case.

Illinois uses the M'Naghten test, under which a defendant is not criminally responsible if, due to mental disease or defect, they did not know the nature of the act or that it was wrong.