In re Marriage of Grant

- Case citation and parties
In re Marriage of Grant, 2024 IL App (1st) 240029-U (Ill. App. Ct., 1st Dist., Sept. 16, 2024) (Rule 23 order; non-precedential). Petitioner-Appellee: Bing Yu Grant. Respondent-Appellant: Calvin A. Grant.

- Key legal issues
1) Whether the appellate court had jurisdiction to consider respondent’s pro se appeal challenging the 2021 dissolution judgment, subsequent indirect civil contempt orders, and an August 2023 emergency suspension of parenting time.
2) Related procedural defects: timeliness of the notice of appeal, finality of orders appealed, and impact of pending postjudgment motions on appealability. (The record also lacked a trial transcript under Ill. S. Ct. R. 323.)

- Holding/outcome
Appeal dismissed for lack of jurisdiction. The court concluded the appeal was untimely as to the dissolution judgment and premature as to other postjudgment orders because various postjudgment claims and motions were pending when the notice of appeal was filed.

- Significant legal reasoning
The First District applied its independent duty to assess jurisdiction. It reiterated the 30‑day rule for appeals from final judgments (Ill. S. Ct. R. 301/303): appeals must be filed within 30 days of a final order disposing of all claims. The dissolution judgment was filed September 22, 2021; respondent’s notice of appeal was filed January 3, 2024 — well beyond 30 days — so any attack on that judgment was untimely. Further, several postjudgment proceedings (petitions for rule to show cause, contempt proceedings, motions to vacate, motions to modify child support/maintenance, motions to enforce, and a guardian ad litem report) were pending when the notice of appeal was filed. Because those matters had not been finally resolved, the court lacked jurisdiction to entertain a premature appeal of interlocutory/pendent matters. The absence of a trial transcript in the record was noted but not dispositive for dismissal on jurisdictional grounds.

- Practice implications (concise)
- Timeliness: appeals of final dissolution judgments must be filed within 30 days; late notices will be dismissed regardless of merits.
- Finality: do not file a notice of appeal while postjudgment motions that affect finality are pending; instead resolve or obtain rulings on those motions or identify a narrow immediately appealable order under the applicable rules (Rule 304).
- Record preservation: secure and include trial transcripts or acceptable substitutes per Rule 323.
- Contempt/emergency relief: litigants should pursue appropriate postjudgment remedies and preserve objections, and consider interlocutory appeal only when the order meets strict standards.
- Practical counsel: pro se appellants are at procedural disadvantage; retain counsel to navigate timing, finality, and record issues.