Court Opinion

ID: 9819544
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-09-01 06:27:25.74508+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T07:38:30.984076
License: Public Domain

JUSTICE COOK, dissenting: I respectfully dissent. I would reverse the trial court’s judgment and remand for the entry of an order allowing plaintiff to voluntarily dismiss his cause of action. “[T]he trial court may hear and decide a motion which has been filed prior to a section 2 — 1009 motion when that motion, if favorably ruled on by the court, could result in a final disposition of the case.” (Emphasis in original.) Gibellina, 127 Ill. 2d at 138, 535 N.E.2d at 866; 735 ILCS 5/2 — 1009(b) (West 2000). Section 2 — 615 motions to dismiss (735 ILCS 5/2 — 615 (West 2000)) generally do not result in a final disposition of the case. “Applying the rule that leave to amend should be allowed unless it clearly appears that no set of facts can be proved that will allow the pleader to prevail on the cause of action or defense asserted in the pleading, a dismissal without leave to amend would be improper in such a case.” 3 R Michael, Illinois Practice § 27.2, at 493 (1989) (Civil Procedure Before Trial). Successive motions to dismiss are often granted, with leave to amend, before a case proceeds to trial. In any event, there is no pending motion to dismiss in this case. No decision, prior to this one, has ever allowed a trial court to deny plaintiff his “unfettered” right to voluntarily dismiss his claim without prejudice, on the basis that defendant should be allowed to file a section 2 — 615 motion to dismiss for failure to state a cause of action. See Bochantin v. Petroff, 145 Ill. 2d 1, 5-7, 582 N.E.2d 114, 116-17 (1991) (previously filed motion to dismiss for failure to produce experts is a motion which could result in a final disposition of the case); Winn v. Mitsubishi Motor Manufacturing of America, Inc., 308 Ill. App. 3d 1054, 1058-60, 721 N.E.2d 819, 822-24 (1999) (Fourth District, holding trial judge generally has no discretion to deny motion to voluntarily dismiss; trial judge may not rule on previously filed motion to transfer venue before ruling on motion for involuntary dismissal). In the present case, the trial court, when it granted defendants’ motion to dismiss with leave to amend, did not rule it was apparent that there was no set of facts that would entitle plaintiff to recover. The trial court rather indicated that it was dismissing the case because of a technical pleading deficiency, because the trial court gave plaintiff leave to amend. The majority does not attempt to justify its decision under section 2 — 1009 or under Gibellina. Instead, the majority comes up with a new rule, that: “Smith’s April 2001 motion to voluntarily dismiss count III was a nullity because there was no count III to voluntarily dismiss. Once the court dismissed count III, Smith either could have amended that count or accepted the court’s dismissal.” 335 Ill. App. 3d at 1092. Under the majority’s logic, Smith should have filed an amended complaint along with his motion for voluntary dismissal, so that there would have been a “count III to voluntarily dismiss.” I suggest that such a wasted effort is completely unnecessary. There was clearly an existing claim here, a pending cause of action, when Smith filed his motion for voluntary dismissal. We recognized as much when we refused to consider the previous appeal in this case “because the court’s February 2001 order was not final.” If there was no existing claim that could be dismissed (335 Ill. App. 3d at 1092 (“a claim must exist before it can be dismissed”)), we should have considered the previous appeal. In Dunavan v. Calandrino, 167 Ill. App. 3d 952, 955-56, 522 N.E.2d 347, 348-49 (1988), the trial court stated that “ ‘in order for something to be dismissed, however absolute the [right] may be, it has to exist.’ ” The trial court concluded that counts I and II, which had previously been dismissed, “ ‘do not now exist for [section] 2 — 1009 *** to apply to.’ ” Dunavan, 167 Ill. App. 3d at 956, 522 N.E.2d at 349. The appellate court affirmed that ruling. In Dunavan, however, counts I and II were dismissed with prejudice and without leave to amend in a final order in September 1985. In June 1986, the court denied leave to file an amended complaint, whereupon plaintiff filed a motion for voluntary dismissal of the remaining counts, plus counts I and II. The court refused to allow him to take a voluntary dismissal as to counts I and II. Allowing him to do so “would, in effect, render every dismissal with prejudice a nullity because a plaintiff could always move for voluntary dismissal and then refile his cause of action later in a new proceeding.” Dunavan, 167 Ill. App. 3d at 959, 522 N.E.2d at 351. That is not our case. There is no final order, no dismissal with prejudice, no dismissal without leave to amend, in our case. A plaintiff has the “unfettered right” to voluntarily dismiss his claim without prejudice, upon proper notice and payment of costs, at any time before trial or hearing begins. Morrison, 191 Ill. 2d at 165, 729 N.E.2d at 488. That right promotes judicial economy. Often after a plaintiff takes a voluntary dismissal, the case is settled or never refiled. By forcing plaintiffs to proceed with questionable cases, we unnecessarily burden the courts and we unfairly require plaintiffs to go forward at a time when they are not ready to do so. Of course, a plaintiff should not be allowed to take a voluntary dismissal to avoid a pending motion which could result in a final disposition of the case. Gibellina, 127 Ill. 2d at 138, 535 N.E.2d at 866. That is not the situation here. There is no pending motion. It is unlikely, given the fact that leave to amend had been granted, that the trial court will eventually find that no set of facts could be proven which would enable plaintiff to recover. This cause of action was filed in November 2000, and plaintiff filed his motion for involuntary dismissal in April 2001. The fact that defendants might eventually be successful on a motion for summary judgment or perhaps at trial does not justify depriving plaintiff of his unfettered right to take a voluntary dismissal at this early stage of the proceedings.