Rago MacHine Products, Inc. v. Shields Technologies, Inc.

598 N.E.2d 332, 233 Ill. App. 3d 140, 174 Ill. Dec. 135, 1992 Ill. App. LEXIS 1268
CourtAppellate Court of Illinois
DecidedAugust 11, 1992
Docket2-91-0019
StatusPublished
Cited by5 cases

This text of 598 N.E.2d 332 (Rago MacHine Products, Inc. v. Shields Technologies, Inc.) 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
Rago MacHine Products, Inc. v. Shields Technologies, Inc., 598 N.E.2d 332, 233 Ill. App. 3d 140, 174 Ill. Dec. 135, 1992 Ill. App. LEXIS 1268 (Ill. Ct. App. 1992).

Opinion

JUSTICE BOWMAN

delivered the opinion of the court:

The present appeal arises out of plaintiff’s, Rago Machine Products, Inc.’s, breach of contract action against defendant, Shields Technologies, Inc. We dismiss the appeal for lack of jurisdiction.

On appeal, plaintiff purports to raise the following issues: (1) whether the trial court abused its discretion in striking plaintiff’s untimely response to defendant’s Rule 216 (134 Ill. 2d R. 216) request to admit; (2) whether defendant waived its right to rely on the request to admit; (3) whether the trial court erred in invoking the parol evidence rule to bar certain evidence; (4) whether the trial court erred in refusing to admit certain documents; and (5) whether the trial court’s award of damages was adequately supported by the record. However, our ultimate disposition of this case makes it necessary to consider only the following issue: whether plaintiff’s appeal must be dismissed for lack of jurisdiction.

A brief chronological review of the facts is necessary to a clear understanding of our resolution of this issue. On December 1, 1986, plaintiff filed its complaint seeking damages for defendant’s alleged failure to pay the balance due under a contract for certain products which had been ordered by defendant from plaintiff. Defendant thereafter filed its counterclaim and subsequent amendments thereto, alleging that plaintiff failed to provide the requisite number of complete machine tool sets called for in the contract, that the tool sets failed to conform to contract dimensions and specifications, and that plaintiff failed to make delivery of the sets in a timely manner.

On March 20, 1989, the trial court entered an order striking plaintiff’s untimely and unverified response to defendant’s request to admit facts. On September 11, 1990, following the presentation of evidence on plaintiff’s complaint, the court entered an order granting judgment in favor of defendant and against plaintiff on plaintiff’s complaint. On December 6, 1990, the trial court entered an order granting judgment in favor of defendant and against plaintiff on defendant’s counterclaim.

Twenty-seven days later, on January 2, 1991, plaintiff filed a notice of appeal. The notice stated that plaintiff was appealing from the trial court’s orders of October 31, 1990, and December 6, 1990, and in addition specifically raised the five issues listed at the outset of this order. The notice did not state that plaintiff was appealing from the trial court’s orders of March 20, 1990, or September 11, 1990. The record before us contains no order dated October 31, 1990. We also note that, although no such document was filed in the trial court or included in the record on appeal, plaintiff has included in the appendix to its brief an “Amended Notice of Appeal” which purports to also seek appeal from the March 20 and September 11 orders. This “Amended Notice of Appeal” also deletes reference to the nonexistent October 31 order.

On the same day that plaintiff filed its notice of appeal, January 2, 1991, defendant filed a motion for prejudgment interest pursuant to section 2 of the Interest Act (Ill. Rev. Stat. 1989, ch. 17, par. 6402). Plaintiff did not withdraw its notice of appeal, and the appeal proceeded simultaneously with the motion. On January 14, 1991, the trial court denied defendant’s motion for prejudgment interest.

On July 8, 1991, defendant filed a motion to dismiss plaintiff’s appeal or, in the alternative, to strike portions of plaintiff’s brief and argument. In its motion defendant argues, inter alia, that since plaintiff failed to file a notice of appeal within 30 days of a “timely filed post-trial motion directed against the judgment,” plaintiff’s appeal must be dismissed pursuant to Supreme Court Rule 303 (134 Ill. 2d R. 303). On July 16, 1991, this court ordered that defendant’s motion to dismiss the appeal, along with plaintiff’s response thereto, if any, be taken with the case.

We begin our analysis with a discussion of Supreme Court Rule 303, which governs the timing of appeals from final judgments of the circuit court. (134 Ill. 2d R. 303.) Subsection (a)(l) of that rule states that a notice of appeal must be filed within 30 days after entry of the final judgment appealed from, or “if a timely post-trial motion directed against the judgment is filed, *** within 30 days after the entry of the order disposing of the last pending post-trial motion.” (134 Ill. 2d R. 303(a)(l).) Subsection (a)(2) states that a notice of appeal filed before entry of an order disposing of the last pending post-trial motion has no effect and must be withdrawn by the party who filed it. This is so whether the post-trial motion was filed before or after the notice of appeal. A new notice of appeal must be filed within 30 days after entry of the order disposing of the last pending post-trial motion. 134 Ill. 2d 303(a)(2).

As noted above, defendant argues that its motion for prejudgment interest was a post-trial motion which extended the time for filing a notice of appeal from the trial court’s judgment. It claims that the 30-day period for filing a notice of appeal did not begin to run until January 14, 1992, the date the trial court denied the prejudgment interest motion. Defendant claims that plaintiff’s failure to file another notice of appeal within 30 days of the court’s January 14, 1991, order left this court without jurisdiction to hear the merits of the case. Plaintiff has not responded to defendant’s jurisdictional arguments, either in a reply brief or by way of a response to the motion to dismiss the appeal.

We must first consider whether defendant’s motion for prejudgment interest qualifies as a post-trial motion. Section 2 of the Interest Act provides:

“Creditors shall be allowed to receive at the rate of five (5) per centum per annum for all moneys after they become due on any bond, bill, promissory note, or other instrument of writing; on money lent or advanced for the use of another; on money due on the settlement of account from the day of liquidating accounts between the parties and ascertaining the balance[;] on money received to the use of another and retained without the owner’s knowledge; and on money withheld by an unreasonable and vexatious delay of payment.” Ill. Rev. Stat. 1989, ch. 17, par. 6402.

Section 2—1203 of the Code of Civil Procedure (Ill. Rev. Stat. 1989, ch. 110, par. 2—1203) authorizes the filing of post-trial motions in nonjury cases. That section provides:

“(a) In all cases tried without a jury, any party may, within 30 days after the entry of the judgment or within any further time the court may allow within the 30 days or any extensions thereof, file a motion for a rehearing, or a retrial, or modification of the judgment or to vacate the judgment or for other relief.” (Ill. Rev. Stat. 1989, ch. 110, par. 2—1203(a).)

In all nonjury cases, therefore, for a motion to qualify as a “post-trial motion,” it must specifically request one of the forms of relief enumerated in subsection (a) of section 2—1203. (Marsh v. Evangelical Covenant Church (1990), 138 Ill. 2d 458, 461.) We believe it is clear that a motion for prejudgment interest under the Interest Act does not seek a rehearing, retrial or vacation of the trial court’s judgment.

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Bluebook (online)
598 N.E.2d 332, 233 Ill. App. 3d 140, 174 Ill. Dec. 135, 1992 Ill. App. LEXIS 1268, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/rago-machine-products-inc-v-shields-technologies-inc-illappct-1992.