In a case important to new car dealers throughout the state of Illinois, the Illinois Supreme Court upheld an Illinois Motor Vehicle Review Board decision that stopped GM from placing two additional franchises in the Chicago metro area and rejected GM's constitutional challenge to the Illinois Motor Vehicle Franchise Act. The opinion, written by Chief Justice Robert R. Thomas, the former Chicago Bears place kicker, states that GM in 2001 proposed adding two new GMC franchises in the Chicago metro area. Four existing GMC dealers objected based on the already overcrowded dealer network, dwindling sales and a shortage of products that actually did sell. In 2003, after 19 days of hearing, the Motor Vehicle Review Board ruled against allowing the new franchises. That decision was affirmed first by Circuit Court, then the Illinois Appellate Court, and now the Illinois Supreme Court. Representing three of the four protesting dealerships, Burke, Warren attorneys took the lead throughout the legal challenges. "This was a test case by the manufacturers. They either wanted to eliminate the statute on constitutional grounds or at least water down the standard to the point where a dealer could never win one of these cases," says the firm's Ira Levin who was the lead litigator throughout the case. This is an important win for auto dealers and one that sets a precedent for Illinois and across the United States. The firm also prepared an amicus brief, authored by Mr. Levin and Jay Dobrutsky, also of Burke, Warren, for the National Automobile Dealer's Association ("NADA"), the Chicago Automobile Trade Association ("CATA") and the Illinois Automobile Dealer's Association ("IADA"). The firm will now seek to recover the attorneys' fees for the dealers, who are entitled to them under the statute. For more information, please contact Ira Levin at (312) 840-7065 / ilevin@burkelaw.com or Jay Dobrutsky at (312) 840-7089 / jdobrutsky@burkelaw.com.