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Stringer v. Packaging Corp. of America9/1/2004
r the trial court's certified question in the negative.
Certified question answered.
APPLETON, J., concurs.
COOK, J., specially concurs.
JUSTICE COOK, specially concurring
I disagree with the statement that "' ivil proceedings already suffer from far too many delays, and the interests of finality and efficiency require that the trial courts not consider such late-tendered evidentiary material, no matter what the contents may be.'" (Emphasis in original.) Slip op. at 9, quoting Gardner, 213 Ill. App. 3d at 248-49, 571 N.E.2d at 1111. I would not place any such arbitrary restriction on the broad discretion possessed by the trial courts. I also disagree with the suggestion that it is important whether the motion is labeled a "motion to reopen proofs." We should look to the substance of the motion, not its title.
Certainly trial courts may choose not to consider additional evidentiary material, reasoning that the litigant has had a full opportunity to present his evidence and going through another hearing would be a waste of time. In some cases, however, the court may appropriately conclude that the best way, the most certain way, to resolve the matter is to consider the evidence and reaffirm the previous ruling. Alternatively, a court may conclude that it is more important to be right than it is to be efficient. Standing by erroneous interlocutory rulings usually has consequences.
Not every motion to reconsider is an abuse of the legal process. For example, sometimes the opponent at the motion hearing raises issues that no one thought were disputed, issues easily refuted by an additional affidavit. The practice of law is not a matter of precision; even the best lawyers know more about their case as it progresses than they did when it began.
The automatic denial of motions to reconsider may not lead to the speedy resolution of a case. In this case, for example, there was a motion to dismiss. If that motion should have been granted, it will be a waste of time and effort to go ahead with a trial and wait for the case to be decided on a directed verdict or judgment n.o.v.
In any event, trial judges are free to ignore the quoted language from Gardner. I cannot imagine that we would ever reverse a final order, otherwise properly rendered, because the trial court has considered "such late-tendered evidentiary material." The quoted language is accordingly only advice to trial courts, but it is not good advice.
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