Legal Question in Civil Litigation in Illinois
waited 45 min. for plaintiff's attorney to show up, how do I dismiss
I am the defendant in a small claims case. At the initial appearance date, my husband and I were on time(we are representing ourselves) but neither the plaintiff nor the plaintiff's attorney showed up until 45 minutes later. When the judge called our case, he asked if we agree or disagree with the claim. We said that we disagree, then he said since the plaintiff and the attorney were not present, would we like to move to dismiss. We said that we did want to dismiss. The judge then said to have a seat and he would give them a few minutes to arrive. 45 minutes later the plaintiffs attorney finally showed up, and the judge called us up. The court date is set and I am now wondering what can I do if this happens again. I feel that this should have been dismissed, and that if we would have been represented it would have been. Is there a legal form that I can take with me to ensure a dismissal if they do not show up the next time? And if there is, how can I recieve a copy?
3 Answers from Attorneys
Re: waited 45 min. for plaintiff's attorney to show up, how do I dismiss
Judges are generally lenient when attorneys are late, particularly if they have checked in with the clerk and indicated that they also had a case scheduled at the same time in another courtroom. If, at your next court date, the attorney is late again, you can bring it to the judge's attention and request dismissal or any other relief that the judge deems appropriate. But, this is completely at the judge's discretion and there is no guarantee that the judge will grant your request.
Re: waited 45 min. for plaintiff's attorney to show up, how do I dismiss
Even if the case was dismissed they would have had 30 days to vacate the dismissal and come right back where you where. So in the bigger picture, nothing has really changed and you have not "missed" an opportunity to be done with the case. If they are late next time, tell that you have to be somhere (I presume you had to tke off of work to show up in Court) and if you suffer any monetary out of pocket expenses to wait for them, the Court should (in its discretion) make the other side pick up any such costs...
Good luck,
Nima Taradji
Re: waited 45 min. for plaintiff's attorney to show up, how do I dismiss
Unfortunately for you, attorneys are given a chance to show due to the fact that they usually have other cases in other courtrooms on the same day. It is unfortunate that you must wait but that is the norm. If you wish, you can request the judge to dismiss. But they then have 30 days to vacate and will most likely do that and start all over again. So just let it go. However, if it happens too many times, you can ask that it be dismissed and/or ask for sanctions. It is unlikely this will happen though.
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