Thomas Maag
Attorney Thomas Maag of Edwardsville insists that Madison County Circuit Clerk Matt Melucci owes him $75.
Maag paid Melucci $75 to reinstate a personal injury suit in March and promptly petitioned Circuit Judge Daniel Stack for a refund.
Maag wrote, "…the Clerk is confused."
Maag represents truck driver Gary Clark of Tennessee, who in 2004 sued Georgia trailer maker Cottrell Inc., Nissan North America, General Motors, businesses of the Cassens family in Edwardsville, and Cassens family member Lisa Shashek.
On a motion from Cottrell, Stack dismissed the case so Clark could sue in Tennessee, where he alleged he suffered injuries.
Maag appealed the decision to the Fifth District appellate court in Mount Vernon.
Without waiting for a Fifth District decision, Maag moved on March 5 to reinstate the case in Stack's court.
He claimed that under Supreme Court Rule 187, venue should remain in Madison County because defendant Shashek had not consented to Georgia jurisdiction.
The reinstatement motion, however, carried a steep price.
"The Clerk of Court has demanded that Plaintiff pay a $75 filing fee to reinstate this case," Maag pleaded to Stack.
"However," Maag wrote, "the applicable rules and statutes do not provide for this."
He wrote, "Instead, the Clerk is confused, and is mistaking a Rule 187 reinstatement for a petition under 735 ILCS 5/2-1401 or 1402."
Stack has not ruled on the refund or the reinstatement.