No. 1-06-0407
ALAN T. ROBILLARD, ) Appeal from the
) Circuit Court of
Plaintiff-Appellee, ) Cook County.
)
v. ) No. 05 MI 602137
)
SCOTT W. BERENDS, THOMAS E. )
PATTERSON, and the PATTERSON )
LAW FIRM, P.C., ) Honorable
) Sanjay Tailor,
Defendants-Appellants. ) Judge Presiding.
JUSTICE ROBERT E. GORDON delivered the opinion of the court:
The plaintiff, Alan T. Robillard (Robillard), is a resident of the State of Massachusetts,
employed by Forensic Science Applications located in Vineyard Haven, Massachusetts, where he
works as a questioned document examiner, including forensic consulting and providing expert
advise and testimony in federal and state courts. The defendants Scott Berends and Thomas E.
Patterson are attorneys licensed to practice law in the State of Illinois and employed by
defendant, the Patterson Law Firm, P.C. (the Firm) located in Chicago, Illinois. The plaintiff was
granted a default judgment in Massachusetts against the defendants. The plaintiff then registered
the judgment here in Illinois under the Uniform Enforcement of Foreign Judgments Act (735
ILCS 5/12-650 et seq. (West 2004)), and subsequently served each defendant with a citation to
discover assets. The defendants moved to quash the registration of the foreign judgment,
claiming Massachusetts lacked personal jurisdiction over them. The circuit court denied the
defendants’ motion finding that jurisdiction in Massachusetts was proper. The defendants’
No. 1-06-0407
appeal, contending the circuit court erred in denying their motion to quash the registration of the
foreign judgment for lack of personal jurisdiction. We affirm.
Defendants admit that on January 14, 2005, Berends initiated contact with plaintiff by
telephoning him in Massachusetts requesting plaintiff