Stanphill v. Ortberg, 158 N.E.3d 1225

In 2005, Dr. Lori Ortberg screened Keith Stanphill for suicide risk and judged he was not an imminent risk; Keith died by suicide nine days later.
Zachary Stanphill (administrator) sued Ortberg and Rockford Memorial Hospital for wrongful death; a jury returned a general verdict for the plaintiff for $1,495,151 on June 2, 2016.
The same jury answered a special interrogatory negatively as to whether Ortberg could reasonably foresee Keith’s suicide nine days later; the trial court accepted that interrogatory and entered judgment for the defendants, overturning the general verdict.
The appellate court reversed and remanded with directions to enter judgment on the general verdict on October 31, 2017; the Illinois Supreme Court later affirmed.
On remand the plaintiff sought pre-judgment interest from June 2, 2016 (jury verdict date); the trial court awarded interest only from October 31, 2017 (appellate order date) and found the defendants had satisfied the judgment.
The sole legal question on appeal was when interest under 735 ILCS 5/2-1303 begins to accrue for the judgment at issue.

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
When does interest under §2-1303 begin to accrue?	Interest began on June 2, 2016 — the date the jury returned the general verdict.	Interest began on Oct 31, 2017 — the first date any court ordered entry of judgment on the general verdict.	Interest accrues when a verdict is received, accepted, and entered as judgment; here the jury finding was not an accepted verdict, so interest began Oct 31, 2017.
Whether defendants should have tendered payment immediately after jury finding to stop interest	Defendants could/should have tendered payment after jury finding to stop accrual.	Tender was not required because no judgment had been entered and reversal was not unforeseeable.	Requiring tender would be unfair; defendants need not anticipate appellate reversal of a preclusive trial-court ruling.

People v. Almo, 108 Ill. 2d 54 (1985) (a jury finding is not a binding verdict until received, accepted by the court, and entered of record)
Illinois State Toll Highway Auth. v. Heritage Standard Bank & Trust Co., 157 Ill. 2d 282 (1993) (purpose of §2-1303 is to preserve award value; interest is compensatory, not punitive)
Owens v. Stokoe, 170 Ill. App. 3d 179 (1988) (when appellate court increases an award, interest on the increased portion accrues only after judgment is entered post-appeal)
Duffek v. Vanderhei, 104 Ill. App. 3d 422 (1982) (interest begins when trial court enters judgment on an accepted jury verdict)
Browning, Ektelon Div. v. Williams, 348 Ill. App. 3d 830 (2004) (application of interest under §2-1303 is mandatory)