Arguments First Raised On Motion For Reconsideration In Trial Court Waived For Appeal

In this complicated dispute among business partners, a counterclaimant asserted arguments of equitable estoppel and of the mend the hold doctrine. However, those arguments were posed for the first time in a motion for reconsideration of a summary judgment. The First District Illinois Appellate Court ruled that the arguments had been waived because “they failed to raise them prior to filing their motion for reconsideration.”

The lesson is: an argument raised for the first time in the trial court on a motion for reconsideration is waived for appeal. Get the whole case, Trossman v. Philipsborn, No. 1-04-0588 (6/8/07), by clicking here.