Page 17 - John Hundley 2018

Litigation Law Roundup

Sharp Thinking

No. 154 Perspectives on Developments in the Law from Sharp-Hundley Law Firm, P.C. June 2018

No Need For Repeated Futile

Attempts At Service, Court Says

A process server who is told flatly by the defendant’s spouse that the defendant does not live at
an address need not make repeated attempts to serve the defendant at that address, a panel of the
Appellate Court in Chicago has ruled.

Ruling in Neighborhood Lending Services, Inc. v. Griffin, 2018 IL App (1st) 162855, the panel
noted the extensive efforts that were made to locate another address
for the defendant after the spouse made the false statement.

“There is no reason to believe that subsequent visits would have
yielded any different results,” the court said, stating there was “nothing
requiring the process server to repeatedly engage in knowingly futile
visits before attempting a different method of service.”

The court distinguished the spouse’s unequivocal statement from
JPMorgan Chase Bank, N.A. v. Ivanov, 2014 IL App (1st) 133553, where an unidentified neighbor in
a multi-unit building told the process server that “he heard” defendant had vacated the premises.

Spouse’s Out-Of-Court Statement Not Hearsay, Court Says

Neighborhood Leasing Services, Inc. v. Griffin, 2018 IL App (1st) 162855, discussed above on a
different issue, was one of those rare appellate cases where evidence issues are dispositive.

In Neighborhood Leasing the issue was whether the spouse’s statement
that “he doesn’t live here” was barred by the hearsay rule. The court held
that it was not.

“This statement was not used for its truth but was used for its effect on
the listener – it provides the reason why the process server did not attempt
service again,” the panel said. “Statements offered for their effect on the
listener or to explain the subsequent course of conduct of another are not
hearsay.”

Hearsay classically is defined as an out-of-court statement offered for the truth of the matter
asserted.

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Sharp Thinking is an occasional newsletter of Sharp-Hundley, P.C. addressing developments in the law which may be of interest. Nothing contained in Sharp Thinking
shall be construed to create an attorney-client relation where none previously has existed, nor with respect to any particular matter. The perspectives herein constitute
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