Chicago Business Litigation Lawyer Blog
You learn about the lawsuit when the bank freezes the account. Or the summons went to a registered agent nobody has updated in years, or the insurer was supposed to respond and did not. Now there is a judgment against your company, for a number nobody tested, in a case you never defended.
A default judgment is serious, but it is often not the end. Illinois gives a defendant one route within 30 days of a final judgment and a harder route for up to two years after it, and a judgment entered without valid service stands on different footing altogether. The question that decides which route applies is how much time has passed, so the calendar comes first.