Lurz v. Panek

527 N.E.2d 663, 172 Ill. App. 3d 915, 123 Ill. Dec. 200, 1988 Ill. App. LEXIS 1141
Appellate Court of Illinois·Decided August 4, 1988·No. 2-88-0373·Published·Cited by 21 cases

Opinion

JUSTICE DUNN

delivered the opinion of the court:

Defendant, attorney Lawrence Panek, appeals from a judgment awarding plaintiff, Donald Lurz, compensatory and punitive damages stemming from defendant’s failure to disburse promptly funds obtained on behalf of plaintiff in an underlying personal injury action. Plaintiff cross-appealed. The initial appeal by defendant and the initial cross-appeal by plaintiff were dismissed by this court because there was no final appealable order entered in the trial court. (Lurz v. Panek (1988), 166 Ill. App. 3d 179, 519 N.E.2d 1110.) The trial court has since entered a final and appealable order, and we have agreed to take the case on the existing record as supplemented and the briefs on file. We affirm.

This case arises from defendant’s representation of plaintiff in a personal injury action against the Chicago, Milwaukee, St. Paul & Pacific Railroad Company (Railroad). The personal injury case was tried by Joseph Lascaro and resulted in a verdict in plaintiff’s favor of $66,596.64. A check in satisfaction of the judgment was drawn by the Railroad and made payable to plaintiff, defendant, and Lascaro. The check was delivered to defendant’s office and was payable through the Continental Illinois National Bank & Trust Company of Chicago (Continental). Upon receipt of the check, defendant endorsed it with plaintiff’s name and deposited it into his client fund account at the American National Bank & Trust Company of Chicago (American). American thereafter negotiated the check to Continental. Continental then negotiated the check to the Railroad, and payment was approved. Over seven months later, defendant issued a check to plaintiff in the amount of $43,358.34; the remainder was retained to satisfy attorney fees and costs.

Plaintiff filed suit in the circuit court seeking compensatory and punitive damages against defendant and Lascaro for fraud (count I), breach of fiduciary duty (count II), and conversion (count III). Thereafter, the complaint was amended to add count IV, which alleged defendant and Lascaro had violated the Consumer Fraud and Deceptive Business Practices Act (Ill. Rev. Stat. 1987, ch. 12V-k, par. 261 et seq.). In addition, separate counts were brought against American, Continental, and the Railroad alleging conversion and seeking the face value of the check issued by the Railroad.

The claims against defendant and Lascaro were considered first. Lascaro was voluntarily dismissed by plaintiff on account of plaintiff’s inability to serve Lascaro. The cause then proceeded solely against defendant. Summary judgment on liability as to counts I and II was entered in favor of plaintiff; summary judgment on liability and actual damages (interest on the funds for the interim period) on count III was entered in favor of plaintiff; and summary judgment on liability was entered in favor of defendant on count IV. A jury trial for purposes of assessing the remaining damages resulted in an award of $2,000 in compensatory damages and $39,000 in punitive damages.

As to the claims against American, Continental, and the Railroad, the court determined on summary judgment that American and the Railroad were liable for $2,000 plus 8% interest from August 31, 1983, to December 11, 1985, and the sum of the interest on $43,358.34 at the rate of 8% from August 31, 1983, to April 6, 1984. The court further determined plaintiff was entitled to only one satisfaction of the “$2000 plus interest judgment.”

The issues presented by defendant on appeal, as we perceive them, are: (1) whether the trial court abused its discretion in denying defendant’s motion to dismiss on grounds plaintiff failed to exercise due diligence in serving Lascaro; (2) whether the trial court’s summary judgment rulings on counts I, II, and III were improper; (3) whether count I should have been dismissed because it stated the same cause of action as count II and separate damages were not proved under counts I and II; (4) whether the trial court erred in denying a motion in limine; (5) whether the evidentiary rulings at trial were proper; and (6) whether the jury was properly instructed. Three issues are raised by plaintiff on cross-appeal: (A) whether the trial court erred in granting summary judgment in favor of defendant on count IV; (B) whether plaintiff should have been awarded the entire contingent fee retained by defendant as compensatory damages; and (C) whether the trial court used the wrong measure of damages in the causes of action against American and the Railroad, and whether granting setoffs was improper.

I

We first address the contentions raised in defendant’s first argument which were not disposed of in the opinion dismissing the initial appeal. Defendant contends the trial court abused its discretion in denying his motion to dismiss brought pursuant to Supreme Court Rule 103(b) (107 Ill. 2d R. 103(b)). Defendant further asserts the court erred in feeling compelled to grant plaintiff’s motion to dismiss voluntarily the complaint against Lascaro (Ill. Rev. Stat. 1987, ch. 110, par. 2 — 1009), before ruling on defendant’s Rule 103(b) motion.

On June 10, 1985, some 10 months after the original complaint was filed, defendant moved to dismiss the complaint against him on the ground plaintiff had failed diligently to serve codefendant Lascaro. Plaintiff responded by submitting an affidavit of a special process server which stated attempts to locate Lascaro had been unsuccessful. In addition, plaintiff’s counsel stated another process server had also failed to locate Lascaro. Counsel further stated he had unsuccessfully searched telephone directories and the post office. The telephone number listed was the number for defendant’s law office. Counsel called the number on 25 to 30 occasions from the time the summons was issued up until two days before the hearing and was told on each occasion that Lascaro was not available. He also had another attorney attempt to contact Lascaro by telephone, but he was unsuccessful as well. Defense counsel claimed he was able to contact Lascaro within 15 minutes based on information obtained during defendant’s deposition. Although the court was troubled by the sparse factual basis in the affidavit of the special process server, the court denied the motion.

A trial court’s ruling on a Rule 103(b) motion to dismiss will not be disturbed absent an abuse of discretion. (Semersky v. West (1988), 166 Ill. App. 3d 637, 642, 520 N.E.2d 71, 74.) Whether a plaintiff has carried its burden of showing reasonable diligence in attempting to serve a defendant depends on several factors which need not be repeated here. (Viking Dodge, Inc. v. Hofmann (1987), 161 Ill. App. 3d 186, 189, 514 N.E.2d 248, 250.) We have reviewed the record, as outlined above, and conclude the trial court did not abuse its discretion in denying defendant’s Rule 103(b) motion to dismiss.

As to defendant’s assertion that the trial court erred in ruling on plaintiff’s section 2 — 1009 motion to dismiss Lascaro voluntarily prior to ruling on defendant’s Rule 103(b) motion to dismiss, we find no reversible error. In O’Connell v. St. Francis Hospital (1986), 112 Ill.

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

Lurz v. Panek, 527 N.E.2d 663, 172 Ill. App. 3d 915, 123 Ill. Dec. 200, 1988 Ill. App. LEXIS 1141 (Ill. Ct. App. 1988).

527 N.E.2d 663 (Lurz v. Panek) — published by Counsel Stack Legal Research, free access to 12M+ legal documents.

Related

Brush v. Gilsdorf
783 N.E.2d 77 (Appellate Court of Illinois, 2003)
Burrow v. Arce
997 S.W.2d 229 (Texas Supreme Court, 1999)
County Concrete Corp. v. Smith
721 A.2d 34 (New Jersey Superior Court App Division, 1998)
Cripe v. Leiter
Illinois Supreme Court, 1998
Mouradian v. Astoria Federal Savings & Loan
689 N.E.2d 1385 (New York Court of Appeals, 1997)
Mouradian v. Astoria Federal Savings & Loan
236 A.D.2d 451 (Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of New York, 1997)
First National Bank v. Colonial Bank
831 F. Supp. 637 (N.D. Illinois, 1993)
Pucci v. Litwin
828 F. Supp. 1285 (N.D. Illinois, 1993)
Ostry v. Chateau Limited Partnership
608 N.E.2d 1351 (Appellate Court of Illinois, 1993)
In Re Life Ins. Tr. Agreement of Seeman
841 P.2d 403 (Colorado Court of Appeals, 1993)
Seeman v. Gumbiner
841 P.2d 403 (Colorado Court of Appeals, 1992)
Calhoun v. Rane
599 N.E.2d 1318 (Appellate Court of Illinois, 1992)
Thigpen v. Allstate Indemnity Co.
757 F. Supp. 757 (S.D. Mississippi, 1991)
Waitcus v. Village of Gilberts
556 N.E.2d 1261 (Appellate Court of Illinois, 1990)
Thompson v. Abbott Laboratories
549 N.E.2d 1295 (Appellate Court of Illinois, 1990)
Loitz v. Remington Arms Co.
532 N.E.2d 1091 (Appellate Court of Illinois, 1988)