Portock v. Freeman

369 N.E.2d 201, 53 Ill. App. 3d 1027, 11 Ill. Dec. 747, 1977 Ill. App. LEXIS 3573
CourtAppellate Court of Illinois
DecidedOctober 14, 1977
Docket76-309
StatusPublished
Cited by18 cases

This text of 369 N.E.2d 201 (Portock v. Freeman) 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
Portock v. Freeman, 369 N.E.2d 201, 53 Ill. App. 3d 1027, 11 Ill. Dec. 747, 1977 Ill. App. LEXIS 3573 (Ill. Ct. App. 1977).

Opinion

Mr. JUSTICE MEJDA

delivered the opinion of the court:

Plaintiff, Peter Portock, brought action against defendant, Robert Freeman, for injuries allegedly sustained on August 21, 1970, when plaintiff’s car was struck from the rear by defendant’s car. At trial, defendant admitted liability but denied that plaintiff had sustained any injuries resulting from the accident. On July 21,1975, the jury returned a verdict in favor of plaintiff but awarded him zero damages; judgment was entered on the verdict. PlaintifFs motion for a new trial was denied and he appeals.

A detailed review of evidence and plaintiff’s contentions on appeal is unnecessary because we have determined that the instant appeal must be dismissed. Only the procedural history of the case following judgment is necessary to our decision today.

Following entry of the judgment on July 21, 1975, plaintiff obtained three separate extensions of time in which to file his post-trial motion. While only one such extension is reflected in the record, both parties agree that plaintiff’s three motions for extensions were timely. The third extension, granted on October 10, ordered plaintiff to file his post-trial motion with the court on or before November 5,1975, with a subsequent hearing date of November 12,1975, established by the trial court. Plaintiff did not file his motion until November 12, which filing was objected to by defendant on grounds of timeliness. After arguments the trial court entered the following order:

““ ° ° That plaintiff’s motion for a new trial is hereby denied. It is further found that plaintiff did not file said motion until November 12, 1975 and that defendant’s attorney has raised an objection to the timeliness of said motion and this court’s jurisdiction to entering an order upon the same and this court makes no ruling upon defendant’s objections in order that the same issue may be included in an appeal of this cause and determined by the appellate court over the attorney for plaintiff’s objection.”

Plaintiff also appeals from this order of November 12 denying his motion for a new trial.

Opinion

Plaintiff in the instant case has not complied with the procedural methods for perfecting an appeal and preserving questions for review. Initially, we consider whether the appeal has been properly taken so as to invoke our jurisdiction. See Artoe v. Illinois Bell Telephone Co. (1975), 26 Ill. App. 3d 483, 325 N.E.2d 698.

The timely filing of a notice of appeal is mandatory and jurisdictional. (Norris v. Board of Fire & Police Commissioners (1975), 30 Ill. App. 3d 224, 332 N.E.2d 553; Ill. Rev. Stat. 1975, ch. 110A, pars. 301, 303(a).) In the instant case, plaintiff’s notice of appeal filed on December 4, 1975, was not timely, and thus this court is without jurisdiction to hear this appeal.

Supreme Court Rule 303(a) (Ill. Rev. Stat. 1975, ch. 110A, par. 303(a)) provides as follows:

* °[T]he notice of appeal must be filed with the clerk of the circuit court within 30 days after the entry of the final judgment appealed from, or, if a timely post-trial motion directed against the judgment is filed, whether in a jury or nonjury case, within 30 days after the entry of the order disposing of the motion. ° ° (Emphasis added.)

The key word here is timely. Clearly, plaintiff’s notice of appeal was not filed within 30 days of the July 21 judgment. In addition, however, since plaintiff’s post-trial motion was not timely filed, the alternative provision for filing the notice of appeal within 30 days after disposing of the motion is not here applicable.

Section 68.1(3) of the Civil Practice Act (Ill. Rev. Stat. 1975, ch. 110, par. 68.1(3)) provides as follows:

“Post-trial motions must be filed within 30 days after the entry of judgment or the discharge of the jury, if no verdict is reached, or within any further time the court may allow within the 30 days or any extensions thereof. * * (Emphasis added.)

In the instant case, the court allowed plaintiff up through November 5 to file his post-trial motion; however, plaintiff failed to comply with the court’s order. Therefore, on November 12, when the motion was filed, the trial court no longer retained jurisdiction to entertain it on its merits. (Stauffer v. Held (1974), 16 Ill. App. 3d 750, 306 N.E.2d 877.) Thus, the fact that plaintiffs notice of appeal was filed within 30 days of the November 12 order of the trial court, which denied the post-trial motion, is not sufficient to invoke this court’s jurisdiction to review the judgment of July 21. Therefore, the appeal from the order of July 21 must be dismissed. (See Fultz v. Haugan (1971), 49 Ill. 2d 131, 305 N.E.2d 873; Deckard v. Joiner (1970), 44 Ill. 2d 412, 255 N.E.2d 900, cert. denied, 400 U.S. 941; Green v. Green (1974), 21 Ill. App. 3d 396, 315 N.E.2d 324.) As to the order of November 12, our observation that the motion for a new trial was not timely filed indicates that the court’s denial thereof was, in fact, the proper disposition, even though such denial should not have been based on the merits of plaintiff’s motion. See Fultz v. Haugan.

Plaintiff contends that the trial court’s setting a hearing date of November 12 indicates that the court intended to retain jurisdiction of the case through that date. We disagree. The trial court set November 5 as the filing date and set November 12 only as the date on which a hearing would be held on any timely post-trial motion, i.e., filed by or on November 5. No such motion was filed and thus plaintiff failed to comply with the requirements of section 68.1(3), that post-trial motions be filed within any granted extension of time.

Plaintiff concedes before this court that he should have filed his motion on November 5, but contends that he believes he obtained oral permission from the trial court on November 12 to file on that date. No such additional extension of time is reflected by the record, and in addition, the granting of such an extension after November 5 would be without effect. After that date the trial court was also without jurisdiction to grant an additional extension of time. Stauffer v. Held.

Although the foregoing, without more, requires dismissal of this appeal, we also note that plaintiff’s failure to file a timely motion for a new trial has the same effect as if no such motion were filed at all. Assuming arguendo, therefore, that this court’s jurisdiction was properly invoked, the applicable rule would be that a party who fails to file a motion for a new trial waives his right to further seek such a new trial. (Ill. Rev. Stat. 1975, ch. 110, par. 68.1(5); Farnsworth v. Shops Building (1966), 77 Ill. App.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
369 N.E.2d 201, 53 Ill. App. 3d 1027, 11 Ill. Dec. 747, 1977 Ill. App. LEXIS 3573, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/portock-v-freeman-illappct-1977.