James v. Grand Trunk Western Railroad

152 N.E.2d 858, 14 Ill. 2d 356, 74 A.L.R. 2d 814, 1958 Ill. LEXIS 344
CourtIllinois Supreme Court
DecidedSeptember 18, 1958
Docket34546
StatusPublished
Cited by54 cases

This text of 152 N.E.2d 858 (James v. Grand Trunk Western Railroad) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Illinois Supreme Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
James v. Grand Trunk Western Railroad, 152 N.E.2d 858, 14 Ill. 2d 356, 74 A.L.R. 2d 814, 1958 Ill. LEXIS 344 (Ill. 1958).

Opinions

Mr. Justicr Bristow

delivered the opinion of the court:

This court has allowed leave to appeal from an Appellate Court judgment affirming the dismissal of a supplemental complaint and the denial of a motion to enjoin the defendant railroad from enforcing an injunction it obtained in Michigan restraining plaintiff Lois M. Kahl, then administratrix, from proceeding with her wrongful death action in the superior court of Cook County.

The issues are essentially whether the Illinois court, having prior jurisdiction of a wrongful death action instituted by a nonresident plaintiff, must recognize an out-of-State injunction restraining the plaintiff from proceeding with that action; and whether the Illinois court, to protect its jurisdiction of the wrongful death action, may issue a counterin junction restraining defendant from enforcing its injunction against plaintiff in the State of her residence.

The operative facts pertaining to these issues are uncontroverted. Plaintiff, Lois M. Kahl, as administratrix of her deceased husband’s estate, instituted suit against defendant, Grand Trunk Western Railroad Company, on February 16, 1956, in the Illinois court, under the Michigan Wrongful Death Act (Mich. Stat. Ann., sec. 27.712) for the death of her husband on Februaty 16, 1955, allegedly through the negligence of the defendant railroad. Defendant obtained, without notice to plaintiff, a temporary injunction in Cass County, Michigan, where plaintiff resided, restraining plaintiff from prosecuting her Illinois action. Plaintiff thereupon filed a supplemental complaint in the Illinois court, alleging that defendant had failed to question plaintiff’s right to proceed in the Illinois court by appropriate motion therein; that plaintiff believed that she could not obtain a fair trial in Cass County, Michigan; that such Michigan suit was instituted by defendant to prevent plaintiff from obtaining a fair trial in the Illinois courts and to force her into- an unjust settlement of her cause of action, and would result in irreparable injury.

On the basis of these allegations, plaintiff moved for a temporary injunction enjoining the enforcement of the Michigan injunction. On August 9, 1956, the trial court denied plaintiff’s motion, and also dismissed her supplemental complaint, although no answer or counteraffidavits were filed by defendant in connection therewith. Plaintiff appealed, and the Appellate Court affirmed the trial court on May 21, 1957.

Plaintiff did not appeal from the Michigan injunction when it was learned that the appeal bond would not have the effect of staying the proceedings. Thereafter, plaintiff was arrested pursuant to a body attachment issued by the Michigan court on the application of defendant’s counsel, O’Connor, and was advised that she would be imprisoned for contempt unless she complied with the injunction. Although she then wrote h> her Illinois attorney discharging him and directing him to withdraw her case from the Illinois courts, she subsequently advised him that the letter did not express her true desires, but had been coerced by threat of imprisonment by defendant’s counsel.

A second injunction suit was instituted by defendant in Cass County, Michigan. Plaintiff did not appear and was defaulted, and an order was entered by the Michigan court on July 17, 1957, enjoining her from further prosecuting her Illinois action and directing her to withdraw it.

Thereafter, on September 6, 1957, upon a showing that defendant’s attorney was insisting that plaintiff sign a stipulation tO' dismiss her Illinois proceedings, a Justice of this court entered an order restraining the defendant from taking further action against plaintiff on the two Michigan injunction suits, “or in any other suit filed in said Court of Cass County, Michigan, or in any other Court, until the Supreme Court of Illinois has acted upon the Petition for Leave to Appeal.” On September 20, 1957, this court denied defendant’s motion to vacate that restraining order, allowed the petition for leave to appeal, and entered a similar injunction restraining defendant until this court disposed of the case.

On the same day, defendant’s counsel, O’Connor, who is also prosecuting attorney for Cass County, Michigan, filed a petition in the probate court of Cass County to remove plaintiff as administratrix. On September 26, 1957, the probate court of Cass County removed plaintiff as administratrix and appointed Adam Greenawalt as administrator to succeed her.

Greenawalt’s affidavit, filed in this court, indicates that he is 83 years of age, is bailiff o-f the circuit court of Cass County; that upon being appointed administrator he was advised by defendant’s counsel, O’Connor, that the estate might have a cause of action against the railroad; that he contacted an attorney and instructed him to consult with O’Connor, but this attorney did not desire to handle the case, whereupon Greenawalt advised O’Connor that he desired to retain counsel outside of Cass County and asked O’Connor to have Donahue, an attorney from another county, contact him. Donahue turned the matter over to his assistant, Drew, who instituted action in Cass County on behalf of Greenawalt as administrator of the estate.

On November 20, 1957, Lewis W. James was appointed to succeed Greenawalt as administrator, and in Greenawalt’s letter to his successor he stated that he had not even talked to Drew about the case, and that all arrangements for Drew to represent the claim against the railroad were made by the defendant railroad’s attorney O’Connor.

With reference to- these circumstances, the railroad takes the position that it did not violate the temporary injunctive order of September 20, 1957, because the act of its Michigan attorney in having plaintiff removed as administratrix was taken by O’Connor as prosecuting attorney for Cass County, Michigan, despite defendant’s request to defer such action. Defendant also explained that O’Connor advised defendant that he intended to prosecute the petition for plaintiff’s removal on his own, irrespective of the railroad’s instructions, since under his contract with defendant, his duties as public officer would prevail over his duties as counsel. Moreover, defendant contends that even if the railroad had instituted the removal proceeding, that action would not constitute a violation of the terms of this court’s order.

On this appeal plaintiff argues that she had an unquestionable right to- file the action in the Illinois court; that where a court has obtained prior jurisdiction of an action, injunctive relief is proper to prevent defendant from transferring the action elsewhere through an action in another forum; and that neither the full-faith-and-credit clause nor comity require the Illinois court to respect the Michigan venue statute and the decision of the Michigan court in this case.

The defendant argues, however, that this court will not, by counterinjunction, aid a citizen of another State to violate an injunction against prosecuting an action in Illinois ; that the counter injunction cannot be justified to protect the prior injunction of the Illinois court, since the Michigan injunction was in personam only; and that such counterin junction would compel a party to give up vested rights and would violate the full-faith-and-credit and due-process clauses of the Federal constitution.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
152 N.E.2d 858, 14 Ill. 2d 356, 74 A.L.R. 2d 814, 1958 Ill. LEXIS 344, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/james-v-grand-trunk-western-railroad-ill-1958.