Fennema v. Vander Aa

On April 6, 1959, the plaintiff, Gilbert Fennema, filed in the circuit court of Cook County a complaint which sought to recover damages for injuries sustained in an automobile collision. On April 28, 1964, the plaintiff failed to appear for a pretrial conference, and the case was dismissed for want of prosecution. On January 6, 1967, more than two and one half years after the entry of the dismissal order, the plaintiff filed a petition to vacate that order, under section 72 of the Civil Practice Act. (Ill. Rev. Stat. 1967, ch. 110, par. 72.) The petition alleged that “counsel for the…