After a federal court ruled in favor of ADT and other alarm companies against a fire protection district in Illinois attempting to create a fire alarm monitoring monopoly, that fire district was issued a deadline of Oct. 4 to exit the alarm monitoring business. The fire protection district sent out letters to monitoring customers in the area letting them know they should seek to contract alarm monitoring through one of the private security companies operating in the area. This permanent injunction against Lisle-Woodridge Fire Protection District notwithstanding, the case is not yet “closed.” And the progress made by alarm companies in preventing fire protection districts from forming monitoring monopolies could be reversed by “the stroke of a pen,” said Ed Williams, Illinois Electronic Security Association’s general counsel, at a recent meeting.
Williams has more than 20 years of experience focusing almost exclusively on litigation. He was the guest speaker at an IESA meeting held on Sep. 13 to discuss this lawsuit and its implications. One thing to note, Williams said, is the sheer volume of “transactions” or documents filed with the court in this lawsuit. The number of transactions is currently just over 400 and will continue to grow. “This case has already gone to the Circuit Court of Appeals [four times],” Williams said. “In law school, it’s common when you talk about a case to talk about ABC technology 1 or ABC technology 2, because it went to the Appellate Court twice. We’re already up to ADT 4 and there will probably be an ADT 5, which makes this case extraordinary.”