Illinois Appellate Lawyer Blog
Dawn Waddick was unhappy with the trial court’s decision in her divorce action. She moved for reconsideration of the court’s decision. Still unhappy with the result of that motion, she appealed the trial court’s decision.
The Second District Illinois Appellate Court dismissed the appeal on its own motion. The court distinguished between the trial court’s “decision” and the later-entered judgment. “. . . [W]hen a timely postjudgment motion has been filed, the notice of appeal must be filed within 30 days after entry of the order disposing of the postjudgment motion. Here, however, Dawn’s motion to reconsider does not qualify as a timely postjudgment motion . . . Although Dawn’s motion to reconsider was file within 30 days after the trial court’s written decision, it was filed before the entry of the final judgment. Accordingly, the motion could not extend the time for filing the notice of appeal.”
The whole opinion, IRMO Waddick, No. 2-06-0363, is available by clicking here.