Wilkerson v. Martin

In an action alleging conversion of funds and financial exploitation of an elderly person, the plaintiff died while the litigation was pending. The law firm for the plaintiff filed a motion for sanctions, including default judgment, in favor of the decedent and against the defendant. The trial court granted the motion, denied defendant’s petition to vacate the default judgment, and defendant appealed. On appeal, defendant argued that the trial court erred because the judgment was void since the trial court’s jurisdiction was suspended when it entered the judgment because there was no proper party plaintiff at the time it was entered, that defendant was not required to alleged a meritorious defense for section 2-1401 relief because the default judgment was void, that the law firm failed to properly serve the motion for sanctions on defendant, and that defendant’s alleged failure to comply with discovery did not warrant the severe sanction of entering default judgment. The appellate court reversed, finding that the defendant had presented a meritorious defense that the default judgment was invalid because the trial court entered the judgment when the court’s jurisdiction was suspended since no proper plaintiff was substituted by order of the court. (MARTIN and ROCHFORD, concurring)