Madlener v. Finley

This case raises the issue of whether a clerk of court who holds a litigant’s funds pursuant to a court order pending resolution of the litigation has a duty to deposit those funds in an interest-bearing account.

The facts in this case are not in dispute. In 1981, appellee, Mary S. Madlener, was named a defendant in an interpleader action filed by an insurance company. The court in the case ordered the insurance company to deposit the amount of its admitted liability with appellant, Morgan M. Finley, the clerk of the circuit court of Cook County (the Clerk). Because the court did not specify…