Joseph v. Evergreen Motors, 2019 IL App (1st) 180360 (Sept. 20, 2019) is a cautionary case regarding a trap for the unwary that lost an Illinois appeal. Following summary judgment for the defendant, the plaintiff timely filed a motion to reconsider. Under the rules, a timely motion to reconsider tolls the time for filing an appeal. The plaintiff, however, failed to provide the circuit court with a courtesy copy of this motion, and the circuit court struck it. The plaintiff re-noticed his motion for a later date. After a hearing, the circuit court denied the motion to reconsider. The plaintiff filed an appeal within 30 days of the denial of his motion to reconsider.
The appellate court dismissed the appeal for lack of jurisdiction. Because the circuit court struck the initially filed motion to reconsider, there was no such motion pending to toll the time for filing an appeal. The time to appeal passed while the re-noticed motion to reconsider was pending. The appellate court held that to preserve the tolling, the plaintiff should have moved to vacate the order striking the initial motion to reconsider. Had plaintiff done so, the time to appeal would have remained tolled until the motion to reconsider was heard.