Commerce Commission JULIE Checklist - LAW OFFICE OF ELIAS GORDAN

<body topmargin=0 leftmargin=0 marginheight=0 marginwidth=0> <table cellpadding=0 cellspacing=0 border=0 height="100%"><tr> <td valign="top" width=175 BGCOLOR="#A6CAF0" TEXT="#080000"> <div> <B> <TABLE BORDER="0" CELLPADDING="2" CELLSPACING="1" WIDTH="132" BORDERCOLORLIGHT="#C0C0C0" BORDERCOLORDARK="#808080" FRAME="BOX" RULES="ALL" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" > <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 35 ><NOBR><div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="1x1.gif" HEIGHT="29" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" WIDTH="21"></div> </NOBR></tD> <tD VALIGN=TOP><NOBR><div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="1x1.gif" HEIGHT="29" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" WIDTH="21"></div> </NOBR></tD> <tD VALIGN=TOP WIDTH="20"><IMG BORDER="0" SRC="1x1.gif" HEIGHT="35" ALIGN="bottom" WIDTH="20" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></tD> <tD VALIGN=TOP><NOBR><div> <A HREF="index.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="HOME PAGE LAW OFFICE OF ELIAS M. GORDAN"><U><B><IMG SRC="00d0d1d0.gif" border=0 width="13" height="29" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></B></U></A></div> </NOBR></tD> <tD VALIGN=TOP><NOBR><div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="1x1.gif" HEIGHT="29" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" WIDTH="27"></div> </NOBR></tD> </tR> </TABLE></B></div> <div> <B>© </B>2001 Elias M. Gordan</div> <div> All rights reserved</div> <bR> <div> <B>Law Office of</B></div> <div> <B>Elias M. Gordan</B></div> <div> Post Office Box 60</div> <div> Palos Park, IL  60464</div> <bR> <div> Phone  708.923.9735</div> <div> Email  gordanlaw@att.net</div> <div> Web    www.gordanlaw.com</div> <div> <A HREF="index.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="HOME PAGE LAW OFFICE OF ELIAS M. GORDAN"><U><B>HOME</B></U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id24.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="LAW OFFICE OF ELIAS M. GORDAN About Us"><U><B>About Us</B></U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id30.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="LAW OFFICE OF ELIAS M. GORDAN Links"><U><B>Links</B></U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id26.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="LAW OFFICE OF ELIAS M. GORDAN Contact U"><U><B>Contact Us</B></U></A></div> <bR> <bR> <bR> </td> <td valign="top" BGCOLOR="#FFFFFF" TEXT="#080000"> <div> <B>JULIE INVESTIGATION CHECKLIST</B></div> <div> <B>(or, “What To Do When the Commerce Commission Calls”) </B>   3/4/03</div> <bR> <div> <B>1. Contact your insurance carrier, to see if costs of administrative proceedings are covered under your policy.</B>  It may be in the carrier's interest to pay several hundred dollars for legal representation now, rather than risk tens of thousands of dollars in exposure later, especially if major downtime or injuries were involved.</div> <div> <B>2.  Notify your carrier of the incident.</B>  This will help preserve your rights to insurance coverage in a later lawsuit, both for legal fees, and for any damages you may have to pay.</div> <div> <B>3. File a FOIA (Freedom of Information Act) request of the Commerce Commission, for a copy of the “Incident Report” filed against you by the utility.</B>  The Commerce Commission is required by law to provide you with these records.  To expedite the delivery of these records, fax your FOIA request to Elizabeth Rolando (Chief Clerk) at 217.524.6859.  Follow up with a certified letter, return receipt requested, to create a “paper trail”.  The Commerce Commission should reply that they charge a copying fee of 25¢ per page, and tell you how much is owed (usually $3 -$5 total).  </div> <div> <B>4.  Gather as much information as possible on the site conditions at the time of the incident, especially if you believe the line was shallow (less than 30” deep).</B>  Take photographs, make sketches, and try to show what was buried where.  Remember, the Commerce Commission can only act on information provided to it.</div> <div> <B>5.  Speak to the Resident Engineer or Technician.</B>  They may have valuable information regarding utility problems at the site, and may be your biggest ally.  Their name and phone number should be made available for the Commerce Commission investigator to follow up.</div> <div> <B>6.  Read the Commerce Commission records carefully, once received.</B>  If the information reported by the utility is inaccurate, point this out to the Commerce Commission investigator.  If you do not, who will?</div> <div> <B>7.  If you are accused of violating Section “4(a)”, “4(b)”, or “4(c)” of the JULIE Act, the accusation might be overcome by proof of an IDOT preconstruction meeting in which the utility was notified of the upcoming work.</B>  Provide a copy of the preconstruction meeting minutes, with utility section correspondence, to the Commerce Commission.</div> <div> <B>8.  Read the JULIE Act and JULIE Rules, available through any of these Websites:</B></div> <bR> <div> <A HREF="http://eweb.icc.state.il.us/julie" TARGET="_top" TITLE="http://eweb.icc.state.il.us/julie"><U><B><U>http://eweb.icc.state.il.us/julie</U></B></U></A><FONT SIZE="2" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Arial" ><B>     IL Commerce Commission</B></FONT></div> <div> <A HREF="http://www.irtba.org" TARGET="_top" TITLE="http://www.irtba.org"><U><B><U>www.irtba.org</U></B></U></A><FONT SIZE="2" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Arial" ><B>                                  IRTBA</B></FONT></div> <div> <A HREF="http://www.gordan.info" TARGET="_top" TITLE="http://www.gordan.info"><U><B><U>www.gordan.info</U></B></U></A><FONT SIZE="2" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Arial" ><B>                            Law Office of Elias Gordan</B></FONT></div> <bR> <div> <B>9.  Consider legal representation at the Commerce Commission stage</B>, especially if fatalities, major property damage, or major utility downtime are involved.</div> <bR> <bR> <bR> <div> DISCLAIMER:  For general information only.  Not to be considered legal advice.  Your mileage (or situation) may vary, depending on the actual facts of your case.</div> <bR> <DIV ALIGN="LEFT"></DIV> <div> <B>Law Office of Elias M. Gordan, </B><FONT SIZE="3" COLOR="#0000BF" FACE="Times New Roman" ><A HREF="http://www.gordanlaw.com" TARGET="_top" TITLE="http://www.gordanlaw.com"><U><B>http://www.gordanlaw.com</B></U></A></FONT><B> </B></div> <div> <B>Post Office Box 60, Palos Park, IL, 60464   </B><FONT SIZE="3" COLOR="#0000BF" FACE="Times New Roman" ><A HREF="mailto:gordanlaw@att.net" TARGET="_top" TITLE="mailto:gordanlaw@att.net"><U><B>email gordanlaw@att.net</B></U></A></FONT></div> <bR> <div> <A HREF="index.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="HOME PAGE LAW OFFICE OF ELIAS M. GORDAN"><U><B>BACK TO HOME PAGE</B></U></A></div> </td> </tr></table></body>