Illinois Civil Procedure Section 2-619(A) (3) Interpretation

In A. E. Staley Manufacturing Co. v. Swift & Co., 84 Ill. 2d 245, 419 N.E.2d 23, 50 Ill. Dec. 156 (1981), the trial court found that section 48(1)(c)(the predecessor to 2-619(a) (3)) required it to dismiss the action before it. The supreme court reversed, holding that the circuit court had discretion in ruling upon motions to dismiss based on the existence of a suit pending in a different jurisdiction which arose out of the same operative facts. Consequently, the circuit court failed to conduct an appropriate analysis of the situation. Staley, 84 Ill. 2d at 253.