WEST BEND MUTUAL INSURANCE COMPANY v. RODDY, LEAHY, GUILL & ZIEMA, LTD., Dist. Court, ND Illinois 2014 – Google Scholar. This is a legal malpractice case arising out of a defense of a workers compensation claim. West Bend alleged that the defense counsel retained to handle the workers compensation claim…
This is a legal malpractice case in which the plaintiff, after enormous effort, obtained a damages award of $2000 at trial. The Appellate Court affirmed the damage award. Unfortunately, the Appellate Court issued an unpublished opinion, Hubertus Investment Group v. Smiegelski & Wator, P.C., 2014 IL App (1st) 131927-U. This…
Filed April 10. This is a case involving a lawyer who successfully obtained employment with DCFS. The ARDC charged that he falsified his Illinois Employment Application by listing employment at a company. By falsifying employment (and salary) the lawyers was able to obtain a higher salary than he otherwise would…
Illinois has a statute of limitations (2 years from discovery) and a statute of repose (6 years from the alleged negligent act by the attorney). In estate planning matters, Illinois also has another provision 735 ILCS 5/13-214.3(d) which governs injuries that occur on the death of the client. In 2002,…
You are an employee of a corporation. Something bad happens and the corporation’s internal lawyer (or an outside lawyer) tells you he wants to talk to you. When the interview starts, he tells you that he does not represent you, he only represents the corporation. You don’t think about the…
Filed March 31. This is one of several recent cases where a lawyer has made statements questioning the integrity or honesty of judges and has been disciplined. Here the Review Board upheld a recommendation of a six-month suspension for Brian Sides. Here, the lawyer was attempting to vacate a small…
Filed March 6. This is an unusual proceeding. A lawyer, John Argoudelis, was retained to represent a client. The client, Paul Volgar, informed him that he was the sole heir of James Volgar. Later, the lawyer filed an Affidavit of Heirship which listed one heir. The attorney was disciplined because,…
The case is captioned Donald W. Forhman, and Associates, Ltd., v. Marc D. Alberts, P.C., 2013 IL App (1st) 123351, decided March 14, 2014 by the Illinois Appellate Court, Sixth Division. This is a dispute between two law firms over referral fees. A referral fee is a fee paid by…
Harris v. Vitale, Ill: Appellate Court, 1st Dist., 2nd Div. 2014 – Google Scholar. This case was brought by Robert Harris, the Public Guardian of Cook County. Harris was appointed the plenary guardian of the person for Andrea Molloy, a disabled person. The Illinois Appellate Court, First District, has affirmed…
Powell v. POTTERFIELD, SC: Court of Appeals 2014 – Google Scholar. This is an unpublished opinion, which is unfortunate, because it deals with a key issue in divorce malpractice cases – could one of the parties have shown that he or she was entitled to maintenance? This issue can be…