Legal Memorandum: A party cannot claim its own loss, in a third-party claim

Issue: Under Illinois law, in a third-party claim can a party claim for its own loss?

Under Illinois law, a party cannot maintain a claim for its own losses in a third-party complaint. Scott & Fetzer Co. v. Montgomery Ward & Co., 129 Ill.App.3d 1011, 1021 (1984), aff’d, 112 Ill.2d 378 (1986); Filipponio v. Bailitz, 73 Ill.App.3d 389, 392 (1979). "Third-party litigation ‘cannot be used to maintain an entirely separate and independent claim against a third party, even if it arises out of the same general set of facts as the main claim.’ " Scott & Fetzer, 129 Ill.App.3d at 1021 (quoting Filipponio, 73 Ill.App.3d at 392). If, as Hechtman insists, these new causes of action were direct claims and not derivative, then they would have been properly barred by the trial court for that reason alone.

Adgooroo, LLC v. Hechtman, 2016 IL App (1st) 142531-U (Ill. App. Dist. 1 2016) (not precedential).

Date: January 1, 2016
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