Survival, Wrongful Death, and Agreements to Arbitrate   At least
in theory, the days are long gone in most jurisdictions when
courts were openly hostile to arbitration. Nevertheless,
petitions to arbitrate are a frequent battleground between
plaintiffs and defendants. On Thursday, a unanimous Illinois
Supreme Court offered important guidance for determining such
petitions, filing its decision in Carter v. SSC Odin Operating
Co.  Carter arises from the decedent's nursing home care. The
first count of plaintiff's complaint is a survival claim
alleging that decedent's personal injuries were caused by
violations of the Nursing Home Care Act, 210 ILCS 45/1-101. In
the second count, plaintiff purported to state a claim for
wrongful death.  The defendant filed a motion to compel
arbitration, citing identical arbitration agreements signed
during decedent's successive stays in the defendant's nursing
home -- the first signed by plaintiff as decedent's "legal
representative." According to the arbitration agreements, th