Chicago Legal Malpractice Lawyer BlogThis case is from Connecticut and, obviously, is not binding in Illinois. It holds that a divorce attorney cannot assert an equitable lien on marital property in a marital dissolution action.
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Illinois Supreme Court Allows Circuit Court To Resolve Referral Fee Dispute
FERRIS, THOMPSON & ZWEIG, LTD. v. Esposito, Ill: Supreme Court 2015 – Google Scholar.
This mundane dispute between two law firms quarreling over a referral fee reached the Illinois Supreme Court. Because the underlying case was a workers compensation case, the Defendant law firm argued that the dispute should have been resolved by the Workers Compensation Commission. The Supreme Court, affirming the Appellate Court, held that the dispute presented an issue of contract, which should be resolved by the Circuit Court.
This is the key language:
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Court allows a lawyer who was not licensed to sue for legal fees
Beery v. Chandler, Dist. Court, ED Missouri 2015 – Google Scholar.
Plaintiff sued his former personal injury lawyer for legal malpractice, alleging that the lawyer negligently advised him to reject a settlement offer. The lawyer sued for legal fees under breach of contract, quantum meruit and unjust enrichment theories. Plaintiff moved to dismiss the claim on the ground that the lawyer was not licensed in Missouri. Plaintiff noted that the Missouri state court had denied the lawyer a lien on the recovery on the ground that the lawyer was not licensed.
The district court rejected that argument apparently on the ground that the lawyer was licensed in Illinois and appears to have done work on the case. There is some suggestion that the lawyer indicated on his stationery that he had an office in Missouri.
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2nd Circ. Holds JPMorgan To Faulty Mayer Brown Loan Deal – Law360
2nd Circ. Holds JPMorgan To Faulty Mayer Brown Loan Deal – Law360.
The allegations are that Mayer Brown, which represented General Motors, drafted a release of JP Morgan’s UCC lien. JP Morgan did not object after the release of the lien was filed. Interestingly, the law firm that represented JP Morgan did not object to the documents prepared by Mayer Brown.
The Second Circuit, after a decision of the Delaware Supreme Court, held that JP Morgan lost is secured creditor status and became an unsecured creditor.
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Former Hinshaw Attorney Loses Coverage Lawsuit For Alleged Ponzi Scheme
Todd A. Duckson v. Continental Casualty Company, 14-1465 MJD/JJK (D. Minn. 12 8 2014).
Lawyers often get into trouble with legal malpractice insurers when they become involved in outside businesses. Most legal malpractice policies exclude coverage of any lawsuit arising out of non-legal business activity. Here, an attorney became involved in the sale of interests of a real estate fund, known as Capital Solutions Monthly Income Fund LP.
Duckson was an attorney with Hinshaw & Culbertson, a law firm with its main office in Chicago, Illinois. Duckson sued Continental alleging that Continental breached its duty under a legal malpractice insurance policy to provide coverage to Duckson. In particular, Duckson alleged that Continental had a duty to defend him and indemnify him in response a lawsuit brought against Duckson and Hinshaw in California state court. The case is referred to as the Shoor action.
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Goldfine v. Barack Ferrazzano – Illinois Supreme Court Affirms Legal Malpractice Verdict For Securities Law Error
This case was decided by the Illinois Supreme Court in October 2014.
Plaintiffs alleged that the defendants committed legal malpractice when they failed to preserve a cause of action under the Illinois Securities Law against an investment firm. Plaintiffs alleged that the lawyers failed to file a rescission claim in a timely fashion causing it to be barred under the statute of limitations. A rescission claim allows the buyer to undo the purchase and obtain a refund of the purchase price. A complicating factor was the settlement of the underlying securities case for $3.2 million.
The main issue in the appeal before the Illinois Supreme Court was section 13(A) of the Illinois Securities Law, 815 ILCS 5/13(A) and how that section impacted the damage claim of the plaintiffs. That section provides:
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Appellate Court Rejects Collateral Estoppel Defense To Legal Malpractice Claim
In the appeal captioned, Stevens v. McGuirewoods, LLP, 2014 IL App (1st) 13-3952, the Illinois Appellate Court reversed a grant of summary judgment in favor of McGuirewoods. The Appellate Court held that the trial court erred in applying collateral estoppel to bar the claims.
In their complaint against McGuireWoods, the plaintiffs alleged that the law firm breached its fiduciary duty to plaintiffs by failing to assert claims against Sidley Austin LLP (Sidley). McGuireWoods moved for summary judgment on the ground that in the underlying case the trial judge ruled that the plaintiffs lacked standing to sue Sidley.
The plaintiffs were former minority shareholders of Beeland Management LLC. They hired McGuireWoods to bring both individual and derivative claims on their behalf and derivative claims on behalf of Beeland against Beeland’s managers and majority shareholder. In the litigation, the plaintiffs eventually sued Sidley for breach of fiduciary duty and other claims. (In a derivative claim, the shareholder stands in the shoes of the corporation and files a lawsuit against someone who has allegedly breached a duty to the corporation.).
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Attorneys Lose Lien Dispute When They Fail to Serve the Lien On The Opposing Party
Randy M. Brown v. Universal Realty Group, et al. 2010 L 008953, 2014 IL App (1st) 1420241-U.
This is an unpublished opinion by the First District, Sixth Division, affirming a decision of the circuit court of cook county, which adjudicated an attorney’s lien of Brooks, Tarulis & Tibble (BT&T) to zero. Please note that I represented Randy Brown in this appeal.
The Illinois Attorney’s Lien Act, 770 ILCS 5/1 (2012) allows an attorney to place a lien on a client’s claim or cause of action. According to the opinion, Brown operated a Harold’s Chicken Shack restaurant in a building in Broadview, Illinois. The roof of the building collapsed, which destroyed Brown’s store. Brown, represented by Elizabeth Bacon, filed suit against the management company and the owners of the building. Ms. Bacon later joined BT&T. “On December 4, 2012, BT&T, by certified mail, served a notice of attorney’s lien on the attorney representing all defendants in the suit. The notice of attorney’s lien stated that Randy Brown, on or about September 12, 2011, had ‘placed in our hands’ the suit against defendants relating to the collapse of the building on January 15, 2009. The notice of attorney’s lien further stated plaintiffs had agreed to pay BT&T ‘for all legal services rendered from whatever amount may be recovered,’ and to reimburse BT&T’s costs. The notice of attorney’s lien was served on December 5, 2012, as evidenced by a signed certified mail receipt contained in the record.”
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This ABA Ethics Opinion Makes Me Sad About the State of the Legal Profession
It’s unethical for prosecutors to lend out letterhead to debt collectors, ABA opinion says.
The ABA has issued an ethics opinion (No. 469) which provides that prosecutors should not lend their stationery to debt collectors. Some prosecutors were lending their letterhead to debt collectors who were then using the letterhead to collect money from debtors. The obvious problem is that the use of this letterhead is designed to threaten people who cannot pay their bills with prosecution.
My reaction to this opinion is one of disbelief. Has our profession really sunk so low that we are letting debt collectors use official letterhead to collect money? Did it not occur to these prosecutors that it was a bad idea to use the imprimatur of their office to collect private debts? Are we not professionals who hold ourselves out to the public as the protectors of civil liberty and rule of law? Who were the people who thought this was a good idea?
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Former Navy Seal Sues His Lawyers For Legal Malpractice
The former Navy Seal who wrote a book on the Bin Laden raid has filed a legal malpractice lawsuit against his former lawyers. He alleges that the lawyers were negligent in failing to advise him that publishing the book would run afoul of government rules. The alleged errors may cost the former Navy Seal $4.5 million in royalties and the movie rights to the book.
Edward X. Clinton, Jr.