4220 Kildare, LLC v. Regent Insurance Co.

2022 IL App (1st) 210803, 216 N.E.3d 1134, 466 Ill. Dec. 301
CourtAppellate Court of Illinois
DecidedAugust 31, 2022
Docket1-21-0803
StatusPublished
Cited by3 cases

This text of 2022 IL App (1st) 210803 (4220 Kildare, LLC v. Regent Insurance Co.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Appellate Court of Illinois primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
4220 Kildare, LLC v. Regent Insurance Co., 2022 IL App (1st) 210803, 216 N.E.3d 1134, 466 Ill. Dec. 301 (Ill. Ct. App. 2022).

Opinion

2022 IL App (1st) 210803

THIRD DIVISION August 31, 2022

No. 1-21-0803 ______________________________________________________________________________

IN THE APPELLATE COURT OF ILLINOIS FIRST JUDICIAL DISTRICT ______________________________________________________________________________

4220 KILDARE, LLC, ) Appeal from the ) Circuit Court of Plaintiff-Appellant, ) Cook County. ) v. ) Nos. 10 L 010065 & ) 16 L 010618 ) REGENT INSURANCE COMPANY, ) Honorable ) Thomas R. Mulroy, Defendant-Appellee. ) Judge Presiding. ) _____________________________________________________________________________

JUSTICE McBRIDE delivered the judgment of the court, with opinion. Presiding Justice Gordon and Justice Burke concurred in the judgment and opinion.

OPINION

¶1 Plaintiff, 4220 Kildare, LLC (Kildare), was the owner of a refrigerated warehouse building

in Chicago. Kildare made a claim on the all risk insurance policy provided by Kildare’s insurer,

defendant, Regent Insurance Company (Regent), after sustaining damage to the concrete floor of

the building. Regent denied the claim, asserting that the damage was excluded under the policy’s

“earth movement” exclusion. The case proceeded to a jury trial, at which evidence was presented

showing that a door to one of the freezer rooms was left open over a long weekend and, as a result,

several inches of frost and ice covered the ceiling and refrigeration coils. Kildare hired a

refrigeration contractor to remove the ice, and during the removal process, dripping water No. 21-0803

penetrated cracks in the floor, saturated the insulation underneath, and subsequently caused

heaving of the concrete floor. There was also evidence presented at trial that, even if the floor had

not heaved, it was necessary for the damaged and saturated insulation to be replaced, which could

not be accomplished without demolishing the floor.

¶2 The jury found that the earth movement exclusion did not apply and returned a verdict in

favor of Kildare for $544,366. The trial court entered judgment on the jury verdict the same day—

June 7, 2018—but subsequently granted Regent’s motions for judgment notwithstanding the

verdict and for a directed verdict and vacated the jury verdict, concluding that the exclusion barred

coverage. In a prior appeal, this court reversed the trial court’s judgment, concluding that the

evidence presented, when considered in the light most favorable to Kildare, supported a conclusion

that damage to the insulation was a separate and covered loss prior to the later floor heaving. 4220

Kildare, LLC v. Regent Insurance Co., 2020 IL App (1st) 181840, ¶ 39. Because the damage to

Kildare’s floor was vested and compensable prior to any later loss that could have been excluded,

we remanded the matter with directions to reinstate the jury verdict and to consider Kildare’s

motion for prejudgment interest, which the parties agreed was denied by the circuit court in light

of its decision to grant a directed verdict in favor of Regent. Id. ¶¶ 48-51.

¶3 This appeal concerns the subsequent proceedings on remand. Specifically, the record

shows that following the prior appeal, Kildare filed a “Renewed Amended Motion for Pre-

Judgment Interest and Post-Judgment Interest.” Kildare explained that the Interest Act permits an

award of prejudgment interest at the rate of 5% per year “for all moneys after they become due on

*** [an] instrument of writing” (815 ILCS 205/2 (West 2018)), which it maintained included an

insurance policy. Kildare asserted that prejudgment interest should run from Regent’s denial of

coverage on August 14, 2009, until the June 7, 2018, jury verdict and contended that “the total

2 No. 21-0803

balance due with pre-judgment interest as of the date of the judgment would be $837,907.80.”

Kildare additionally argued that, pursuant to section 2-1303 of the Code of Civil Procedure (735

ILCS 5/2-1303 (West 2020)), it was entitled to 9% postjudgment interest from the date of the jury

verdict, and that “[t]he base rate with prejudgment interest is $837,907.80 which at 9% would

accrue to $1,088,135.56 as of June 8, 2018.”

¶4 On June 3, 2021, Regent filed a “Brief in Opposition” to Kildare’s request for prejudgment

and postjudgment interest. Regarding prejudgment interest, Regent argued that Kildare “waived

any argument for pre-judgment interest” because Kildare did not give the trial court the

“opportunity to rule on [its] request for pre-judgment interest” prior to the earlier appeal. Regent

also alleged that prejudgment interest was not appropriate “because the sum due is not liquidated.”

Regent argued that “even [Kildare] was not certain of the amount” of damages, noting that Kildare

claimed different amounts in its two “Proof of Loss” statements and, then later, at trial. Regent

also pointed to the ”disparity in the amounts sought by [Kildare] and the amount actually granted

to [Kildare] by the jury,” which showed that the “ ‘sum due’ was not certain and, thus, pre-

judgment interest [wa]s inappropriate.” Finally, Regent argued that the terms of the parties’

contract—the insurance policy—stated that Regent’s obligation to pay accrued only after an

agreement by the parties or an award.

¶5 As to postjudgment interest, Regent asserted that the trial court vacated the jury verdict and

entered judgment in favor of Regent. Although that judgment was reversed on appeal, Regent

asserted that postjudgment interest could not begin to accrue until the judgment was entered in

favor of Kildare following the appeal, which had not yet occurred. Accordingly, Regent argued

that postjudgment interest was “inappropriate.”

3 No. 21-0803

¶6 The parties appeared before the trial court on June 21, 2014. The trial court expressed some

confusion about the status of the case, noting that it was unaware that the judgment had been

reversed. Counsel for the parties confirmed that the judgment was reversed and the case was

remanded for reinstatement of the jury verdict and for consideration of Kildare’s prejudgment

interest motion. Counsel for Kildare also explained that the parties disputed when postjudgment

interest began to accrue. Kildare’s position was that interest “start[ed] running from the date of the

original jury verdict,” while Regent contended that no postjudgment interest applied where the

jury verdict had been set aside. The court explained that it “agree[d]” with Regent that no

postjudgment interest accrued until the trial court reinstated the jury verdict following the appeal

and denied Kildare’s request for postjudgment interest.

¶7 Turning to the question of prejudgment interest, Regent argued that the damages were not

liquidated and, accordingly, no prejudgment interest applied. Counsel for Kildare acknowledged

that “the question of damages was hotly contested,” but argued, nonetheless, that the sum was

“easily computable.” The court questioned counsel for Kildare, asking “[a]nd you computed it one

way and the jury computed it another, right?” Counsel for Kildare responded that the “jury verdict

was reduced by the amount of damages attributable to the earth movement” but that Regent “did

not put on any testimony or evidence to contradict what [Kildare] set forth were the damages.”

Counsel for Regent argued the fact that the jury’s award was different than what Kildare requested

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Bluebook (online)
2022 IL App (1st) 210803, 216 N.E.3d 1134, 466 Ill. Dec. 301, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/4220-kildare-llc-v-regent-insurance-co-illappct-2022.