Elliot Kouri v. Party Sealed by Judge Swanson-11 ( 2024 )

COURT OF APPEALS
DECISION NOTICE
DATED AND FILED This opinion is subject to further editing. If
published, the official version will appear in
the bound volume of the Official Reports.
April 2, 2024
A party may file with the Supreme Court a
Samuel A. Christensen petition to review an adverse decision by the
Clerk of Court of Appeals Court of Appeals. See WIS. STAT. § 808.10
and RULE 809.62.
Appeal No. 2023AP1204 Cir. Ct. No. 2022SC12222
STATE OF WISCONSIN IN COURT OF APPEALS
DISTRICT I
ELLIOT KOURI,
PLAINTIFF-APPELLANT,
V.
PARTY SEALED BY JUDGE SWANSON-11,
DEFENDANT-RESPONDENT.
APPEAL from a judgment of the circuit court for Milwaukee
County: CYNTHIA M. DAVIS, Judge. Reversed and cause remanded for further
proceedings.
¶1 COLÓN, J.1 Elliot Kouri appeals from a judgment entered against
him in this landlord-tenant dispute in the amount of $5,835.21 in damages and
1
This appeal is decided by one judge pursuant to WIS. STAT. § 752.31(2)(a) (2021-22).
All references to the Wisconsin Statutes are to the 2021-22 version unless otherwise noted.
No. 2023AP1204
$5,900 in attorney fees. The court commissioner assigned to this case reviewed
the evidence and issued an oral decision in favor of Tenant.2 Kouri filed a demand
for a trial before the circuit court. The circuit court denied Kouri’s demand for
trial because it concluded that Kouri failed to mail Tenant’s attorney his demand,
as required by WIS. STAT. § 799.207(3)(c). On appeal, Kouri argues that his
demand for trial should not have been denied because Tenant’s attorney was
notified via the Wisconsin electronic filing system. For the reasons set forth
below, we reverse the judgment and remand for further proceedings.
BACKGROUND
¶2 This case arises out of a landlord-tenant dispute between Kouri, as
the landlord, and Tenant. At a hearing on March 6, 2023, the court commissioner
found in favor of Tenant’s counterclaims and awarded $5,835.21 in damages and
$5,900 in attorney fees. Kouri then filed his demand for trial and timely mailed,
via certified mail, a copy to Tenant. Kouri never mailed a copy of his demand for
trial to Tenant’s attorney.
¶3 At the May 17, 2023 pre-trial conference before the circuit court,
Tenant raised the issue that Kouri’s demand for trial was not properly served on
her attorney by mail as required by WIS. STAT. § 799.207(3)(c) and moved for the
circuit court to deny Kouri’s demand for trial. Kouri argued that Tenant’s attorney
was properly served because she was notified of the demand via the electronic
filing system, as provided in WIS. STAT. § 801.18(6)(a).
2
The Defendant-Respondent’s name is sealed in this case. For ease of reading, the
Defendant-Respondent is referred to using the pseudonym “Tenant” because this case originated
as a landlord-tenant dispute.
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¶4 The circuit court agreed with Tenant that her attorney was not
properly served Kouri’s demand for trial and denied the demand. It explained that
Tenant’s attorney represented Tenant in a limited scope under WIS. STAT.
§ 801.14(2m), which requires that anything that must be served upon Tenant must
also be served upon Tenant’s attorney. The circuit court recognized that the plain
language of WIS. STAT. § 799.207(3)(c) is “very, very clear that the demand for
trial has to be served by mailing[.]”
¶5 The circuit court also discussed how under WIS. STAT. §§ 799.01(1)
and 799.04(1), rules of civil procedure from other chapters only apply to
proceedings under WIS. STAT. ch. 799 if ch. 799 does not already provide a
procedure for it. The circuit court reasoned that WIS. STAT. § 799.207(3)(c)
clearly provided for mailing as the manner of service and did not leave room for
the application of other rules of civil procedure.
¶6 The circuit court emphasized that it would make sense for notice
through the electronic filing system to constitute service on Tenant’s attorney.
The circuit court went on to acknowledge Kouri’s submission of the legislative
history of the electronic filing system statute—WIS. STAT. § 801.18—and Kouri’s
argument that it was the intent of the legislature for § 801.18 to apply to demands
for trial filed under WIS. STAT. § 799.207(3)(c). However, the circuit court
stressed that when a court engages in statutory construction “it has to rely on the
plain language and if the plain language is not ambiguous, it doesn’t go into
legislative history, or consider … equitable remedies and interests of justice,
etcetera. The statute is very clear that the demand for trial has to be mailed.”
Therefore, the circuit court concluded that the notice of activity generated by the
electronic filing system could not constitute service of Kouri’s demand for trial on
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Tenant’s attorney because § 799.207(3)(c) unambiguously requires the demand to
be mailed.
¶7 Kouri now appeals.
DISCUSSION
¶8 The question on appeal is whether the notice of activity generated by
the electronic filing system under WIS. STAT. § 801.18(6)(a)3 constitutes service
on a party’s attorney of a demand for trial filed under WIS. STAT. § 799.207(3)(c).
Kouri argues that the purpose of the electronic filing system is to allow for service,
electronically, of all documents that do not require personal service. By contrast,
Tenant contends that § 799.207(3)(c) controls and unambiguously requires
demands for trial to be mailed to satisfy service requirements because
§ 799.207(3)(c) specifies the mailing of demands instead of explicitly
incorporating the electronic filing system into the small claims procedure.
¶9 We review questions of statutory construction de novo. State v.
Setagord, 211 Wis. 2d 397, 405-06, 565 N.W.2d 506 (1997). “[S]tatutory
interpretation begins with the language of the statute.” State ex rel. Kalal v.
Circuit Ct. for Dane Cnty., 2004 WI 58, ¶45, 271 Wis. 2d 633, 681 N.W.2d 110(quotation marks and citation omitted). “Statutory language is given its common,
ordinary, and accepted meaning, except that technical or specially-defined words
or phrases are given their technical or special definitional meaning.” Id.Additionally, “statutory language is interpreted in the context in which it is used;
3
WISCONSIN STAT. § 801.18(6)(a) states that “[f]or documents that do not require
personal service, the notice of activity is valid and effective service on the other users and shall
have the same effect as traditional service of a paper document[.]”
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No. 2023AP1204
not in isolation but as part of a whole; in relation to the language of surrounding or
closely-related statutes; and reasonably, to avoid absurd or unreasonable results.”
Id., ¶46. “Where statutory language is unambiguous, there is no need to consult
extrinsic sources of interpretation, such as legislative history.” Id.
¶10 Eviction actions, like the landlord-tenant dispute here, are governed
by the small claims procedure in WIS. STAT. ch. 799. WISCONSIN STAT.
§ 799.207(3)(a) provides “an absolute right to have the matter heard before the
court if the requirements of this section are complied with.” One of those
requirements is found in § 799.207(3)(c), which states:
The demand for trial must be filed with the court and
mailed to the other parties within [ten] days from the date
of an oral decision or [fifteen] days from the date of
mailing of a written decision. Mailing of the notice and
proof of such mailing is the responsibility of the party
seeking review.
(Emphasis added.) The plain language of § 799.207(3)(c) unambiguously requires
demands for trial to be mailed to the other parties.
¶11 WISCONSIN STAT. §§ 799.01(1) and 799.04(1) govern when general
rules of civil procedure can be used to supplement the procedure in WIS. STAT.
ch. 799. Section 799.01(1) provides that the procedure outlined in ch. 799 is “the
exclusive procedure to be used in circuit court” for eviction actions. Section
799.04(1) states that “[e]xcept as otherwise provided in this chapter, the general
rules of practice and procedure in chs. 750 to 758 and 801 to 847 shall apply to
actions and proceedings under this chapter.” The test to determine if the general
rules of civil procedure applies to ch. 799 is the different-procedure-prescribed
test. State v. Bausch, 2014 WI App 12, ¶9, 352 Wis. 2d 500, 842 N.W.2d 654.
Under this test, “the application of the civil rules of procedure is [dependent on]
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No. 2023AP1204
whether the statutes governing the instant proceeding are silent on the matter or
otherwise set out a different procedure, [and] also whether the instant proceeding
can be reconciled with the rules of civil procedure.” State v. Schneck, 2002 WI
App 239, ¶7, 257 Wis. 2d 704, 652 N.W.2d 434.
¶12 Neither party disputes that Kouri timely mailed his demand for trial
to Tenant. Instead, the parties dispute whether the notice of activity generated by
the electronic filing system under WIS. STAT. § 801.18(6)(a) can constitute service
on Tenant’s attorney in light of the requirements of WIS. STAT. § 799.207(3)(c).
Notably, the requirement that Tenant’s attorney must be served a copy of the
demand comes from WIS. STAT. §§ 801.14(1) and (2m), indicating that service on
Tenant’s attorney is governed by more than § 799.207(3)(c).
¶13 Under WIS. STAT. § 801.14(1) “every … demand … shall be served
upon each of the parties.” Section 801.14(2m) states that “[w]hen an attorney has
filed a limited appearance … anything required to be served under sub. (1) shall be
served upon both the otherwise self-represented person who is receiving the
limited scope representation and the attorney who filed the limited appearance[.]”
¶14 The plain language of WIS. STAT. § 799.207(3)(c) only requires the
demand to be mailed to the other parties. If the legislature had intended
§ 799.207(3)(c) to modify the manner of the service requirement under WIS. STAT.
§ 801.14(2m) then it would have included the terms “serve” or “service” in the
statute like it did elsewhere in ch. 799. For example, these terms are used to
discuss the service requirements for summons under WIS. STAT. § 799.12. Thus,
§ 799.207(3)(c) is silent regarding service on a party’s attorney, and there is no
reason why it cannot be reconciled with the rules of the electronic filing system.
See Schneck, 257 Wis. 2d 704, ¶7.
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No. 2023AP1204
¶15 Furthermore, the scope, context, and purpose of the electronic filing
system under WIS. STAT. § 801.18 supports its application to WIS. STAT.
§ 799.207(3)(c). See Kalal, 271 Wis. 2d 633, ¶48 (“[S]cope, context, and purpose
are perfectly relevant to a plain-meaning interpretation of an unambiguous statute
as long as the scope, context, and purpose are ascertainable from the text and
structure of the statute itself[.]”). It is clear from the text that the purpose of
§ 801.18 is to allow for a system for filing documents, “automatically integrating
them into the court case management system, and electronically serving them on
the parties.” See § 801.18(1)(e) (defining “electronic filing system”) (emphasis
added). Under § 801.18(6)(a), notice through the electronic filing system is
sufficient to satisfy the service requirements of documents that do not require
personal service.
¶16 WISCONSIN STAT. § 801.18(2)(a) provides that the scope of the
electronic filing system covers small claims actions with the following: “[t]he
requirements of this section shall govern the electronic filing of documents in all
types of actions and proceedings in circuit court.” (Emphasis added.)
Additionally, WIS. STAT. § 801.14(2m), the source of the requirement to serve the
demand on a party’s attorney who filed a limited appearance, is in the same
chapter as the electronic filing system statute. This context suggests that both
statutes are intended to work together. Thus, the notice of activity generated by
the electronic filing system under § 801.18(6)(a) constitutes service of a demand
for trial to a party’s attorney despite the requirement to mail demands to the other
parties found in WIS. STAT. § 799.207(3)(c).
¶17 All that is required for service of demands on a party’s attorney
under WIS. STAT. § 801.18(6)(a) is notice through the electronic filing system. As
a mandatory user of the electronic filing system, Tenant’s attorney was notified
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and Tenant does not assert otherwise. See §§ 801.18(2)(c), (3)(a)1. Therefore,
Tenant’s attorney was properly served Kouri’s demand for a trial.
CONCLUSION
¶18 Ultimately, Kouri complied with WIS. STAT. § 799.207(3)(c) by
filing his demand for a trial and timely mailing it to Tenant. We conclude that the
notice of activity of the demand to Tenant’s attorney through the electronic filing
system satisfied the service requirements to Tenant’s attorney. Therefore, for all
of the foregoing reasons, we reverse the judgment of the circuit court and remand
for further proceedings consistent with this decision.
By the Court.—Judgment reversed and cause remanded for further
proceedings.
This opinion will not be published. See WIS. STAT.
RULE 809.23(1)(b)4.
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