BELLEVILLE – Former St. Clair County Circuit judge Vincent Lopinot and wife Connie Lopinot bumped Circuit Judge Stephen McGlynn off a suit they filed against State Farm over damage to their home.
William Niehoff of Mathis, Marifian and Richter in Belleville moved for substitution on behalf of the Lopinots on Oct. 7.
McGlynn granted it a week later.
Any party in an Illinois court can substitute one judge without cause if the judge hasn’t made a substantive ruling.
Niehoff filed the suit in August, writing that a State Farm policy covered the Lopinot house at 2902 Polo Court in Swansea.
He wrote that it covered mine subsidence in the amount of $419,000.
“The house suffered mine subsidence damage,” Niehoff wrote.
According to the suit, State Farm issued payment based on a report from Michael Dohm of Mid America Loss Services.
The Lopinots hired Veile Engineering to prepare a report. The difference between the estimates in the Mid America and Veile reports exceeded $165,000, the suit says.
It further states that the difference wasn’t due merely to opinions as to the amount of loss but also as to the extent of loss and continuing losses. The Veile report indicated that at least $97,000 of its estimate consisted of items Mid America didn’t include in its report.
State Farm took a position that the policy required an appraisal process, and Niehoff asked for an order finding the policy doesn’t require it.
Chief Judge Andrew Gleeson initially assigned the suit to Associate Judge Julie Katz.
She recused herself in September, “to avoid the appearance of impropriety.”
Gleeson assigned McGlynn, but he didn’t last any longer than Katz.
As of Oct. 22, Gleeson hadn’t assigned a judge.