| THE ILLINOIS LICENSED BEVERAGE | ) | Appeal from |
| ASSOCIATION, INC., an Illinois Not- | ) | Circuit Court of |
| for-Profit Corporation, Individually | ) | Sangamon County |
| and on Behalf of its Members, | ) | No. 01MR255 |
| Plaintiff-Appellee, | ) | |
| v. | ) | |
| ADVANTA LEASING SERVICES, a Division | ) | |
| of Advanta Bank Corporation; MARK B. | ) | |
| BALOTTI; RENEE RICHAU; LINDELL LARRY | ) | |
| BITTLE; PAUL RIBAU; MARK LEWIS; TOM | ) | |
| DOUGHERTY; and PAT GALVIN, | ) | |
| Defendants-Appellants, | ) | |
| and | ) | |
| PREFERRED CAPITAL, INC.; MARLIN | ) | |
| LEASING CORPORATION; QL CAPITAL, | ) | |
| INC.; LIBERTY LEASING COMPANY, a | ) | Honorable |
| Division of Commercial Federal Bank, | ) | Robert J. Eggers, |
| Defendants. | ) | Judge Presiding. |
JUSTICE STEIGMANN delivered the opinion of the court:
Section 2-1001(a)(2)(ii) of the Code of Civil Procedure(Code) provides that a party's motion for substitution of judgeas of right must be granted if the motion "is presented beforetrial or hearing begins and before the judge to whom it ispresented has ruled on any substantial issue in the case." 735ILCS 5/2-1001(a)(2)(ii) (West 2000). In this case, we considerwhether a trial court's ruling, made at a time the court waswithout jurisdiction to act, meets the criteria of section 2-1001(a)(2)(ii) of the Code, so as to preclude a party after thatruling from obtaining the substitution of judge. We hold that itdoes not.
In May 2001, plaintiff, the Illinois Licensed BeverageAssociation (ILBA), on behalf of itself and its members, filed acomplaint for declaratory and injunctive relief and damagesagainst (1) JRA 222 Corporation, d/b/a Credit Card Center (CCC);(2) Information Leasing Corporation and defendants AdvantaLeasing Services (Advanta), Preferred Capital, Inc., MarlinLeasing Corporation, QL Capital, Inc., and Liberty LeasingCompany (collectively, leasing companies); and (3) individualdefendants, Mark B. Balotti, Renee Richau, Lindell Larry Bittle,Paul Ribau, Mark Lewis, Tom Dougherty, and Pat Galvin.
In June 2001, CCC filed a bankruptcy petition underchapter 11 of title 11 of the United States Code (BankruptcyCode) (11 U.S.C.