Court Opinion

ID: 9742375
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-26 21:12:15.265076+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T07:24:32.001572
License: Public Domain

PRESIDING JUSTICE TULLY, concurring in part and dissenting in part: I concur with the majority regarding the issue of the trial court’s application of the doctrine of res judicata to plaintiff’s second lawsuit. However, I must respectfully dissent from the majority’s conclusions with respect to the propriety of the trial court’s denial of plaintiff’s motion to vacate the dismissal order and for leave to amend her complaint. As the majority correctly notes, the appellate court’s decisions (and I would add common sense) make it clear that ordinary window screens cannot reasonably be expected to protect children from the danger of falling out of a window. Where the majority and I part company is in what I believe is its narrow reading of the sufficiency of plaintiff’s proposed amended complaint. The majority looks to the language in paragraph 4 of the tendered amended complaint and concludes that, as it does not specifically allege that defendant promised to install a childproof screen, it fails to state a cause of action under the voluntary assumption of duty exception in Larrikin. I believe such a reading to be too rigid. Section 2 — -603(c) of the Code of Civil Procedure places an obligation upon Illinois courts to “liberally construe[] [pleadings] with a view to doing substantial justice between the parties.” (Ill. Rev. Stat. 1989, ch. 110, par. 2 — 603(c).) I believe it to be a fair inference when reading paragraph 4 to find that its allegation that defendant failed to “install screens properly mated with the existing triple track aluminum frame window system so that [plaintiff’s] children would be afforded *** protection from falling out of the window” implies the use of a screen capable of providing the needed protection. Screens made of stainless steel and other materials are readily available for this purpose. Thus, I believe the proposed amended complaint properly stated a cause of action under the Lamkin exception. Recently, the Illinois Supreme Court in Loyola Academy v. S & S Roof Maintenance, Inc. (1992), 146 Ill. 2d 263, 586 N.E.2d 1211, clarified what criteria a reviewing court must employ in determining whether a trial court has committed an abuse of its broad discretion in denying a litigant leave to amend pleadings. In that opinion, our supreme court adopted the four factors established by the appellate court in Kupianen v. Graham (1982), 107 Ill. App. 3d 373, 437 N.E.2d 774, and summarized them as follows: “(1) whether the proposed amendment would cure the defective pleading; .(2) whether other parties would sustain prejudice or surprise by virtue of the proposed amendment; (3) whether the proposed amendment is timely; -and (4) whether previous opportunities could be identified.” (Loyola Academy, 146 Ill. 2d at 273.) I believe that an application of Loyola Academy-Kupianen’s four factors leads to the conclusion that the trial court erred in this regard. As the proffered amended complaint properly states a cause of action, it follows that the first factor of the Loyola Academy-Kupianen test has been met. Furthermore, I cannot perceive any prejudice or surprise that defendant would suffer as a result of allowing plaintiff to proceed on the proposed amended complaint. Nor do I believe at this early pretrial stage of the litigation that timeliness is a concern in this case or that there was a more opportune time for amendment given the timing of the Lamkin opinion in relation to the trial proceedings. Therefore, the trial court abused its discretion in refusing to allow plaintiff leave to amend her complaint. Loyola Academy, 146 Ill. 2d 263, 586 N.E.2d 1211; Kupianen, 107 Ill. App. 3d 373, 437 N.E.2d 774. Consequently, I would reverse the circuit court of Cook County’s order denying plaintiff’s motion to vacate the dismissal order and for leave to amend her complaint and remand this cause for further proceedings consistent with this view.