General Telephone Co. of Illinois v. Robinson
Decision Date | 23 July 1982 |
Docket Number | No. 79-3030.,79-3030. |
Citation | 545 F. Supp. 788 |
Parties | GENERAL TELEPHONE COMPANY OF ILLINOIS, a corporation, Plaintiff, v. Charles ROBINSON, et al., Defendants. |
Court | U.S. District Court — Central District of Illinois |
Thomas M. Barger, Jr., Livingston, Barger, Brandt, Slater & Schroeder, Bloomington, Ill., for General Telephone.
David Davis, Jr., Bloomington, Ill., for John A. Williams, d/b/a J.A.W. Contractor.
Robert W. Lewis, Benton, Ill., for Charles Richard.
Ralph Turner, Luedtke, Hartweg & Turner, Bloomington, Ill., for McLean County Bank.
J. Phillip, O'Brien, Graham & Graham, Springfield, Ill., for Roland Machinery Co.
John P. Schwulst, Arnold, Gesell & Schwulst, Bloomington, Ill., for First State Bank of Maple Park.
Tyrone C. Fahner, Atty. Gen., Michael Paschon, Asst. Atty. Gen., Springfield, Ill., for State of Ill., Dept. of Revenue.
Gerald D. Fines, U. S. Atty., Thomas Schanzle-Haskins, Asst. U. S. Atty., Springfield, Ill., James Wilkens, Trial Atty., Tax Div., Dept. of Justice, Washington, D. C., for the U. S.
George L. Chesley, Jr., Bloomington, Ill., for James T. Finegan, trustee for Robinsons.
This is an interpleader action filed by General Telephone Company to determine who has priority among the competing claimants as to $83,916.28 which General Telephone owes under a contract entered into with C & R Cable Splicing Contractor on March 23, 1976. The sum total of the claims exceeds the amount due under the contract. The question simply is, under Illinois law, which creditors' claims have priority. Although the question is simple, the answer, unfortunately, does not lend itself to easy resolution.
The various claimants, the amounts of their respective claims, the dates those claims arose, the dates those claims were allegedly "perfected," and the manner in which those claims were allegedly perfected are set forth as follows:
Initially, I note that not only is Illinois law concerning the creation of liens unclear, but additionally, the actions of several parties in this case have served to confuse the issues even more. On December 29, 1980, the Government filed a motion for summary judgment in which it asserted that the parties who had proceeded to enforce their claims by way of citation to discover assets, namely J.A.W. Contractor and First State Bank of Maple Park, took prior to the Government's tax liens, but all other creditors took subsequent thereto. At oral argument, the Government turned about face and adopted the position of McLean County Bank. McLean County Bank, in its memorandum of January 28, 1981, asserted that the Government's tax liens took priority over all other liens; that issuance of a citation to discover assets does not create a lien; and, that its lien, created by service of garnishment summons, was second in priority. It also stated that J.A.W. had proceeded by way of citation to discover assets. In response to inquiry by the Court via its order dated November 14, 1981, and filed November 16, 1981, McLean County Bank also did an about face and now claims that its lien is prior to the Government's second tax lien. Moreover, it turns out that J.A.W. Contractor attempted to enforce its judgment by serving a garnishment summons on General Telephone, not by way of citation to discover assets.
Turning now to the legal issues in this case, an initial matter raised by the Trustee is whether First State Bank of Maple Park obtained a final judgment upon which execution could issue. The Trustee contends correctly that a citation may issue only with respect to "a judgment upon which execution may issue." Ill.Rev.Stat. ch. 110A § 277(a) (1981).
The judgment order obtained by First State Bank and entered October 17, 1978, specifically reserved the question of the addition of reasonable attorney's fees and directed the plaintiff to set the issue of attorney fees for prove-up. Moreover, the words "execution may issue" were stricken from the judgment order.
The Trustee argues that since the question of fees was reserved by the Court, and because no such findings were made, the judgment clearly was not final.
However, Rule 304 applies where multiple parties or multiple claims for relief are involved. "It is not designed to permit appeals from orders that dispose of less than all the issues in an action involving a single party and a single claim." Coble v. Chicago Health Club, Inc., 53 Ill.App.3d 1019, 1021, 11 Ill.Dec. 734, 369 N.E.2d 188 (1977). The question of attorney's fees was merely one issue in an action involving a single party and a single claim. Thus, even a finding under Rule 304 would not have made this judgment appealable. See Coble, 53 Ill.App.3d at 1022, 11 Ill.Dec. 734, 369 N.E.2d 188.
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