General Telephone Co. of Illinois v. Robinson

Decision Date23 July 1982
Docket NumberNo. 79-3030.,79-3030.
Citation545 F. Supp. 788
PartiesGENERAL TELEPHONE COMPANY OF ILLINOIS, a corporation, Plaintiff, v. Charles ROBINSON, et al., Defendants.
CourtU.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.

ORDER

J. WALDO ACKERMAN, Chief Judge.

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:

                                                        Date                                  Manner
                                                        Claim                 Date            Of
                Claimant          Amount                    Arose             "Perfected"     Perfection
                J. A. W.        $ 2,740.50              Judgment              Sept. 6, 1978   Service of
                Contractor    plus 74.80 costs          obtained                             Garnishment
                                  2,815.30              Against                                  Summons
                                                        C&R Cable                                     on
                                                        Splicing, Inc.                         Gen. Tel
                                                        July 2, 1978
                Roland            3,600.71              Mechanic's            Oct. 20, 1978    Notice of
                Machinery                               lien on                                claim for
                Company                                 materials furnished                  lien served
                                                        between                                  on Gen
                                                        April                                   Tel. and
                                                        10, 1978 and                             Charles
                                                        Aug. 20, 1978                           Robinson
                First State      19,947.87              Two judgments         Oct. 19, 1978     Citation
                Bank of                                 obtained                             to discover
                Maple Park                              Oct. 17, 1978                             assets
                                                        against                                   issued
                                                        Charles                             to Gen. Tel
                                                        Robinson and
                                                        Dorothy
                                                        Robinson
                L. W. Williams    4,780.00              July 27, 1978         Nov. 9, 1978     Notice of
                Contractor,                             Mechanic's                            mechanic's
                Inc.                                    lien                                 lien served
                                                                                            on Gen. Tel
                McLean Co.       35,490.77              Judgment              Jan. 10, 1979  Garnishment
                Bank                                    obtained                                 summons
                                                        Oct. 24, 1978                          served on
                                                        against                                Gen. Tel
                                                        Charles
                                                        Robinson and
                                                        Dorothy
                                                        Robinson
                United           21,036.25              Date of               Dec. 12, 1978       Notice
                States                                  assessment                           of tax lien
                                                        of tax deficiency:                      filed in
                                                        July 27, 1978                          office of
                                                                                                Recorder
                                                                                                of Deeds
                
                
                                                          Date                             Manner
                                                          Claim           Date             Of
                Claimant         Amount                   Arose           "Perfected"      Perfection
                                 30,145.79              Dec. 18, 1978     Feb. 20, 1979    Notice of
                Total            51,182.04                                                  tax lien
                                                                                            filed in
                                                                                           office of
                                                                                         Recorder of
                                                                                               Deeds
                Gen. Tel.           603.00              Attorney's
                                                        fees and
                                                        costs
                

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.

"To be final, an order must conclude the litigation between the parties so that only execution remains to be accomplished if affirmed on appeal." Kulins v. Malco, Inc., 79 Ill.App.3d 982, 985, 35 Ill.Dec. 194, 398 N.E.2d 1144 (1979). Execution may issue only as to final judgments. Wilson-Jump Co. v. McCarthy, Hundrieser and Associates, Inc., 85 Ill.App.3d 179, 40 Ill.Dec. 230, 405 N.E.2d 1322 (1980). The Trustee here relies on Ill.Rev.Stat. ch. 110A § 304 as support for his position that the judgment obtained by First State Bank is not a final judgment. Supreme Court Rule 304 provides that

if multiple parties or multiple claims for relief are involved in an action, an appeal may be taken from a final judgment as to one or more but fewer than all of the parties or claims only if the trial court has made an express written finding that there is no just reason for delaying enforcement or appeal.

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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