Erickson v. Mitrione

Plaintiff filed a lawsuit alleging violations of the Consumer Fraud and Deceptive Business Practices Act and the Vehicle Information and Cost Savings Act. The court granted plaintiff’s motion for summary judgment but the defendant later filed a petition to vacate the judgment order under section 2-1401 of the Code of Civil Procedure, claiming that defendant’s attorney had failed to notify the defendant that he received leave to withdraw while the summary judgment motion was pending. The trial court granted defendant’s petition and vacated the summary judgment order. The appellate court reversed, finding that defendant failed to allege facts that he exercised due diligence in defending against the original action and did not allege a meritorious defense in his section 2-1401 petition. (DOHERTY and LANNERD, concurring)