However, under the "continuing tort" or "continuing violation" rule, "where a tort involves a continuing or repeated injury, the limitations period does not begin to run until the date of the last injury or the date the tortious acts cease." Belleville Toyota, Inc. v. Toyota Motor Sales, U.S.A., Inc., 199 Ill. 2d 325, 345 (2002); see also Pavlik v. Kornhaber, 326 Ill. App. 3d 731, 745 (2001); Bank of Ravenswood v. City of Chicago, 307 Ill. App. 3d 161, 167 (1999); Field v. First National Bank of Harrisburg, 249 Ill. App. 3d 822, 825 (1993); Hyon Waste Management Services, Inc. v. City of Chicago, 214 Ill. App. 3d 757, 763 (1991); City of Rock Falls v. Chicago Title Trust Co., 13 Ill. App. 3d 359, 364 (1973). At this juncture, we believe it important to note what does not constitute a continuing tort. A continuing violation or tort is occasioned by continuing unlawful acts and conduct, not by continual ill effects from an initial violation.

When a series of checks is cashed as part of an ongoing scheme or plan, the plan constitutes a single transaction for purposes of the commencement of the statute of limitations. See Field v. First National Bank, 249 Ill. App.3d 822, 825-26, 619 N.E.2d 1296, 1298-99 (1993). Thus, if plaintiff alleged facts sufficient to show a plan for Raychouni's conversion of checks payable to CATS, the date on which the last check was deposited would govern as the date for all the checks for purposes of the statute of limitations.

See Chicago Hospital Risk Pooling Program v. Illinois State Medical Inter-Insurance Exchange, 325 Ill. App. 3d 970, 977, 758 N.E.2d 353 (2001) ("The scope of our review pursuant to Supreme Court Rule 308 (155 Ill. 2d R. 308) is strictly limited to the questions certified by the trial court"). Nevertheless, we are aware of only one case that holds that the statute of limitations period for conversion of a negotiable instrument is other than three years as set forth in section 3-118 of the UCC. That case is Field v. First National Bank of Harrisburg, 249 Ill. App. 3d 822, 619 N.E.2d 1296 (1993), upon which the plaintiff relies for its continuing violation theory and which we decline to follow as explained below. I. Continuing Violation

Rather than view the negotiation of each check as a discrete wrong, the court deemed the entire series of 269 checks, negotiated over an 85-month period, to be a continuing violation that did not terminate, and did not trigger the statute of limitations, until the last check was negotiated in 1999. R. 114 at 13-15 ¶¶ 24-26, citing, inter alia, Field v. First Nat'l Bank of Harrisburg, 249 Ill.App.3d 822, 189 Ill.Dec. 247, 619 N.E.2d 1296, 1298-99 (1993), and Haddad's of Illinois, Inc. v. Credit Union 1 Credit Union, 286 Ill.App.3d 1069, 222 Ill.Dec. 710, 678 N.E.2d 322, 324 (1997). Second, the court found that the "faithless employee" provision of the Code, 810 ILCS 5/3-405(b), did not shield Olin from liability.

In 1993, this court extended the doctrine to a case involving improperly cashed checks. Field v. First National Bank of Harrisburg, 249 Ill. App. 3d 822, 826, 619 N.E.2d 1296, 1299 (1993). Over a four-year period, a son deposited checks made payable to his father into accounts not bearing the father's name.

Plaintiffs also point to another case examining a common law conversion claim against a bank for repeatedly accepting checks marked "for deposit only" into the account of an individual who was not the named payee. Field v. First Nat'l Bank of Harrisburg, 249 Ill. App. 3d 822, 619 N.E.2d 1296 (5th Dist. 1993). The court concluded that because the named payee never received any information about this third-party account, the course of conduct constituted a single transaction for statute of limitations purposes.

Metro Elec. Maint., Inc. v. Bank One Corp., 924 So.2d 446, 451 (La.Ct.App. 2006) (citation omitted). Copier directs our attention to two lower court cases from Illinois that applied a continuing tort theory to the conversion of negotiable instruments, Field v. First National Bank of Harrisburg, 249 Ill.App.3d 822, 189 Ill.Dec. 247, 619 N.E.2d 1296 (1993), and Haddad's of Illinois, Inc. v. Credit Union 1 Credit Union, 286 Ill. App.3d 1069, 222 Ill.Dec. 710, 678 N.E.2d 322 (1997). In Field, the Appellate Court of Illinois, Fifth District, lamented that it was "unable to find any cases in which a series of checks cashed is said to constitute a single transaction for purposes of the running of the statute of limitations. . . ."

In concluding that the conversion of all 269 checks should be treated as a single, continuing wrong, the district court relied principally on the Illinois Appellate Court's opinion in Field v. First Nat'l Bank of Harrisburg, 619 N.E.2d 1296 [(Ill.App.Ct. 1993)]. ...

The doctrine applies when "a tort involves a continued repeated injury" in which case "the limitation period does not begin until the date of the last injury or when the tortious act ceased." Field v. First Nat'l Bank of Harrisburg, 619 N.E.2d 1296, 1299 (Ill. App. Ct. 1993). The doctrine does not apply to "a series of discrete acts, each of which is independently actionable, even if those acts form an overall pattern of wrongdoing."

The results reached by the courts in the Illinois cases cited by the plaintiffs are likewise consistent with the Court's decision, although perhaps better explained by the "discovery rule" embraced in New Jersey and other states. See, e.g. , Field v. First Nat'l Bank of Harrisburg , 249 Ill.App.3d 822, 189 Ill.Dec. 247, 619 N.E.2d 1296, 1298 (1993) (finding delayed accrual in case in which defendants engaged in "four-year course of conduct" and plaintiff "discovered this course of conduct" only after his father's death); accordHaddad's of Ill., Inc. v. Credit Union 1 Credit Union , 286 Ill.App.3d 1069, 222 Ill.Dec. 710, 678 N.E.2d 322, 324 (1997).Because the plaintiffs have not demonstrated the existence of any actionable conduct that falls within the six-year limitations period, they cannot avail themselves of the continuous tort doctrine.