Cruz v. Northwestern Chrysler Plymouth Sales, Inc.
Case Date: 12/31/1969
Court: Supreme Court
Docket No: 82619, 82726
cons.
|
NOTICE: Under Supreme Court Rule 367 a party has 21 days after the filing of the opinion to request a rehearing. Also, opinions are subject to modification, correction or withdrawal at anytime prior to issuance of the mandate by the Clerk of the Court. Therefore, because the following slip opinion is being made available prior to the Court's final action in this matter, it cannot be considered the final decision of the Court. The official copy of the following opinion will be published by the Supreme Court's Reporter of Decisions in the Official Reports advance sheets following final action by the Court. Docket Nos. 82619, 82726 cons.--Agenda 24--September 1997. VIRGINIA CRUZ, Appellant, v. NORTHWESTERN CHRYSLER PLYMOUTH SALES, INC., et al., Appellees.-- JEFFREY KOLAR et al., Appellants, v. ARLINGTON TOYOTA, INC., Appellee. Opinion filed November 20, 1997. JUSTICE HARRISON delivered the opinion of the court: These two consolidated appeals present a common issue: What procedure should plaintiffs follow to obtain statutory attorney fee awards where their causes of action have been submitted to mandatory court-annexed arbitration in accordance the rules of this court? In each of the cases before us, the fee petitions were presented to and ruled upon by the circuit court after it entered judgment on the arbitration panel's award. For the reasons that follow, we have concluded that this procedure was improper. Plaintiffs should have presented their requests for fees to the arbitration panel, and the arbitration panel should have disposed of the fee requests along with all of plaintiffs' other claims for relief. Accordingly, the judgments of the appellate court setting aside the fee awards must be affirmed. Both of the appeals before us today arose from consumer complaints against automobile dealerships and manufacturers. In No. 82619, plaintiff, Virginia Cruz, brought an action in the circuit court of Cook County against Northwestern Chrysler Plymouth Sales (Northwestern), Chrysler Credit Corporation (CCC), and Chrysler Corporation (Chrysler) alleging that the Chrysler automobile she purchased from Northwestern and financed through CCC was defective. Cruz's complaint sought recovery based on breach of express and implied warranties, revocation of acceptance and unconscionability. She also asserted statutory claims under the Consumer Fraud and Deceptive Business Practices Act (the Consumer Fraud Act) (Ill. Rev. Stat. 1987, ch. 121 |