Mailing Label Fails To Establish Appellate Jurisdiction

William Huber filed a lawsuit to dissolve the American Accounting Association. The Association asked the trial court to dismiss the lawsuit, which it did.

Huber appealed. He mailed his Notice of Appeal to the court, but it arrived two days after the 30-day deadline.

That would have been okay had Huber included an affidavit (required of a non-lawyer) or certificate (required of a lawyer) of mailing with the Notice of Appeal. But Huber did not. He argued that a postmark on the envelope, dated two days before the 30-day deadline expired, was sufficient proof of mailing within the time required.

But the Illinois Supreme Court ruled that Huber’s so-called postmark was not a postmark at all. This is what the supreme court said:

What plaintiff identifies as a “postmark,” appearing in the upper right hand corner of the envelope, is actually a postage label from an Automated Postal Center (APC). An APC is a self-service kiosk, generally located in post office lobbies, that allows customers to mail letters and packages, buy postage, look up ZIP Codes, and access other postal services, such as “USPS Tracking,” and certified mail. …  The postage label at issue here reveals on its face that it was dispensed at an “APC.” An “APC label does not constitute an official U.S. postmark.”

The APC label shows only a “Date of sale” of “04/03/13.” [Two days before the deadline.) The date of sale is not necessarily the date plaintiff placed the envelope in the mail and the post office took custody of it. … Thus … the APC label at best indicates that plaintiff may have mailed his notice of appeal on April 3, 2013. The APC label does not establish that plaintiff, in fact, did so.

The late Notice of Appeal deprived the appellate court of jurisdiction, so the supreme court affirmed dismissal of Huber’s appeal.  Here’s the link to the supreme court’s opinion in Huber v. American Accounting Association, 2014 IL 117293 (11/20/14).

The Illinois Supreme Court did not decide whether a postmark would suffice in lieu of an affidavit or a certificate. But take a look at IRMO Sheth, an appellate court opinion explained three postings below. The Sheth court certainly falls in the camp that a postmark alone does not meet the Illinois Supreme Court Rules.

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