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Barragan v. Casco Design Corp.9/22/2005
Docket No. 99261-Agenda 18-May 2005.
Plaintiffs, Jesus Barragan and Veronica Barragan, filed suit in the circuit court of Cook County against defendants, Osman Construction Corporation (Osman) and Casco Design Corporation (Casco), to recover for death and injury caused by a construction-related accident. Casco filed a counterclaim for contribution against Osman, and Osman subsequently filed a responsive counterclaim for contribution against Casco. The issue presented in this case is whether section 13-207 of the Code of Civil Procedure (Code) (735 ILCS 5/13-207 (West 2000)), which allows counterclaims to proceed even when otherwise barred by a statute of limitations, should have been applied to save Osman's responsive counterclaim for contribution that was admittedly time-barred by the two-year statute of limitations set forth in section 13-204 of the Code (735 ILCS 5/13-204 (West 2000)). We answer in the affirmative.
BACKGROUND
On July 8, 1997, Jesus Barragan was injured and his brother, Roberto Barragan, killed, when a masonry wall collapsed at the construction site where the two were working. At the time of the accident, the Barragans were employed by Masonry Construction Corporation (Masonry), a subcontractor on the project. Osman was the general contractor at the site, and Casco was the architect who designed the specifications for the project.
On July 15, 1997, Jesus Barragan filed his initial negligence complaint against Osman in the circuit court. Three days later, Veronica Barragan, the special administrator of Roberto's estate, joined Jesus in filing a first amended complaint, adding a wrongful-death claim. Osman was served with the summons on the original complaint on July 25, 1997, and with the summons on the amended complaint on August 1, 1997. Plaintiffs filed a second amended complaint on September 11, 1997, naming Casco as a defendant. Casco was served with the second amended complaint on September 15, 1997.
On May 28, 1999, Osman filed a contribution claim against Masonry, but not against Casco at that time. On July 29, 1999, Casco filed a claim for contribution against both Osman and Masonry, and on December 7, 2000, Osman filed a counterclaim for contribution against Casco. Casco filed a motion objecting to Osman's counterclaim for contribution. The trial court denied the motion, but gave Casco until January 11, 2001, to answer or otherwise plead to Osman's counterclaim.
Settlement negotiations between plaintiffs and Osman ensued. On January 12, 2001, the trial court entered a good-faith finding approving a settlement agreement between plaintiffs and Osman that required Osman to pay plaintiffs $4.65 million. The agreement extinguished plaintiffs' causes of action against both Osman and Casco, but noted that Osman had retained its right to proceed with its counterclaim for contribution against Casco. In accordance with the settlement, the trial court dismissed plaintiffs' causes of action with prejudice, but ordered that Osman's counterclaim against Casco remain pending.
Casco eventually filed a motion pursuant to section 2-619 of the Code (735 ILCS 5/2-619 (West 2000)) to dismiss Osman's counterclaim for contribution. In its motion, Casco argued that Osman's counterclaim was barred by the two-year limitation period for contribution actions under section 13-204 of the Code because Osman filed its claim for contribution more than two years after the date it was served with process on the plaintiffs' underlying complaint. Section 13-204 bars contribution actions filed more than two years after a defendant is served with process in the underlying suit. 735 ILCS 5/13-204 (West 2000). Osman, on the othe
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