Protein Partners, LLP v. Lincoln Provision, Inc.

941 N.E.2d 308, 407 Ill. App. 3d 709, 346 Ill. Dec. 750, 2010 Ill. App. LEXIS 1382
Appellate Court of Illinois·Decided December 21, 2010·No. 1-09-0823·Published·Cited by 20 cases

Opinion

PRESIDING JUSTICE CUNNINGHAM

delivered the modified opinion of the court upon denial of petition for rehearing:

The plaintiff, Protein Partners, brought an action against the defendant, Lincoln Provision, in Ohio to recover commissions allegedly owed to Protein Partners for services it rendered in Ohio. Lincoln Provision was served with the complaint according to the rules of Ohio civil procedure. Lincoln Provision did not file an appearance, and a default judgment was entered against it in Ohio. Protein Partners subsequently registered the Ohio judgment in the circuit court of Cook County on December 23, 2008. Thirty-seven days after the registration of the Ohio judgment in Cook County, Lincoln Provision filed a motion in the circuit court of Cook County to quash Protein Partners’ registration of the Ohio judgment. Lincoln Provision’s motion to quash was denied by the circuit court of Cook County.

Lincoln Provision filed a timely appeal to this court and raised the following issues: (1) whether an Illinois court should quash the registration of a foreign judgment because the plaintiff in the foreign state was not registered to do business in that state as required for standing under the foreign state’s law, (2) whether the Illinois Uniform Enforcement of Foreign Judgments Act (735 ILCS 5/12—650 et seq. (West 2008)) limits a party to registering a foreign judgment without any modification of the names of the parties as shown in the foreign judgment, and (3) whether an Ohio statute violates the due process clause of the United States Constitution because of the manner of service of process on corporations allowed by the Ohio statute.

Upon initial review of the opening briefs of the parties, this court on its own motion directed the parties to address specific jurisdictional issues by way of supplemental briefs on the following issues: (1) whether the circuit court of Cook County had jurisdiction to hear Lincoln Provision’s motion to quash the registration of the Ohio judgment filed 37 days after entry of the circuit court’s order, and if not, (2) whether the circuit court was revested with jurisdiction to rule on the motion to quash, (3) whether the motion to quash can be construed as a petition under section 2—1401 of the Code of Civil Procedure (735 ILCS 5/2—1401 (West 2008)), and (4) whether this court has jurisdiction to hear this appeal. Following this court’s issuance of its opinion on October 19, 2010, Lincoln Provision filed a petition for rehearing, which was denied, and this modified opinion was issued.

For the reasons that follow, we affirm the judgment of the circuit court of Cook County, which recognized the Ohio judgment upon registration of that judgment in the circuit court of Cook County by the plaintiff, Protein Partners.

BACKGROUND

The record establishes the following facts. The plaintiff-appellee, Protein Partners, LLR a food broker, filed a lawsuit in Summit County, Ohio, in December 2007 against the defendant-appellant, Lincoln Provision, Inc., d/b/a Chicago Gourmet Steaks, to recover commissions allegedly owed to Protein Partners for services rendered in Ohio regarding the sale of meats. The complaint was captioned, “Protein Partners v. Lincoln Provision, Inc. d/b/a Chicago Gourmet Steaks.” Protein Partners’ complaint recited that it was a Colorado limited liability partnership doing business in the County of Summit, State of Ohio. The complaint further stated that Lincoln Provision was, and is, an Illinois corporation that had registered an alias name of “Chicago Gourmet Steaks” with the Illinois Secretary of State.

Lincoln Provision was served with the Ohio complaint via certified mail at its company’s Chicago address. The address on the envelope in which the complaint was mailed was not addressed to a specific individual and contained only the company name as the addressee, which is allowable under applicable Ohio law. The return signature card from the post office showed that someone at Lincoln Provision’s office received the certified mail containing the Ohio complaint. Lincoln Provision did not appear nor respond to the Ohio lawsuit. On June 18, 2008, a default judgment for $16,603 plus interest and costs was entered against Lincoln Provision in the Ohio court where the lawsuit had been filed. The caption of the Ohio judgment order contained the names “Protein Partners” as the plaintiff and “Chicago Gourmet Steaks” as the defendant. The Ohio court ruled in favor of Protein Partners, and the body of the judgment order states that a judgment had been entered “for the Plaintiff and against the Defendant.” Lincoln Provision did not pay the judgment.

On December 23, 2008, Protein Partners filed an action in the circuit court of Cook County captioned “Protein Partners, LLP” versus “Lincoln Provision, Inc. d/b/a Chicago Gourmet Steaks,” in which it registered the Ohio judgment in Cook County. Notice of the filing and registration of the Ohio judgment was sent via certified mail specifically addressed to the president of Lincoln Provision (who was also the company’s registered agent), at the company’s Chicago address, in accordance with the Illinois Uniform Enforcement of Foreign Judgments Act (Foreign Judgments Act) (735 ILCS 5/12—650 et seq. (West 2008)). On January 5, 2009, Protein Partners initiated two citations to discover assets of Lincoln Provision.

On January 29, 2009, which was 37 days after the Ohio judgment had been registered in Illinois, Lincoln Provision filed a “Motion to Quash and for Sanctions.” In its motion, Lincoln Provision alleged that: (1) it was not served properly in the original Ohio case, and (2) the Ohio judgment was against “Chicago Gourmet Steaks,” an alias of Lincoln Provision’s, and therefore the judgment was not valid. Lincoln Provision requested that Protein Partners’ action to register the Ohio judgment in Illinois be quashed. Protein Partners responded to Lincoln Provision’s motion by alleging that: (1) Lincoln Provision was legally and admittedly served in the Ohio case; and (2) the Ohio judgment properly identified Lincoln Provision in the lawsuit.

In its subsequent “Reply in Support of Motion to Quash,” Lincoln Provision alleged several issues which are summarized as follows: (1) Protein Partners was attempting to use fraud since the Ohio judgment was void ab initio because Protein Partners was not registered to do business in Ohio and Ohio law prohibits a foreign partnership which is not registered in Ohio from maintaining a lawsuit in Ohio courts; (2) the plaintiff “Protein Partners” does not exist and that fact was implicitly acknowledged by Protein Partners when it changed its name to “Protein Partners, LLP” in registering the Ohio judgment in Illinois; (3) the defendant named in the Ohio judgment does not exist; (4) it was impermissible for Protein Partners to attempt to modify the Ohio judgment by changing the names of the parties after the entry of the judgment by the Ohio court and before registering the judgment in Illinois; and (5) although service to Lincoln Provision by certified mail was valid under Ohio law, this type of service offends Illinois law and public policy including due process and should therefore be held to be void.

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Protein Partners, LLP v. Lincoln Provision, Inc., 941 N.E.2d 308, 407 Ill. App. 3d 709, 346 Ill. Dec. 750, 2010 Ill. App. LEXIS 1382 (Ill. Ct. App. 2010).

941 N.E.2d 308 (Protein Partners, LLP v. Lincoln Provision, Inc.) — published by Counsel Stack Legal Research, free access to 12M+ legal documents.

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