Illinois Appeals Court Upholds Sanctions In Husband's Challenge To Order Requiring Jewish Divorce Document

In Schneider v. Schneider, (IL App., March 15, 2011), an Illinois appellate court upheld the trial court's award of attorneys' fees as a sanction under Illinois Civil Rule 137 (the equivalent of Federal Rule 11) to a divorced wife who succeeded in her lawsuit to force her husband to issue her a Jewish divorce document (a "get"). The trial court, relying on a 1990 Illinois appellate court decision [Lexis link], had issued an order directing the husband to secure a "get" for his wife. The husband argued that the1990 case was inapplicable, reiterating the argument in six different pleadings even though the court trial court rejected the claim.