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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 have obtained.

“On July 1, 2003, Respondent received a four-year term position as an attorney with DCFS at a salary of $85,000. (Tr. 51, 55). That position required him to be a lawyer. (Tr. 270). At that time, Respondent was aware of the Governor’s Office’s policy that new employees to State government could not receive 10% more than their most recent salary. (Tr. 52-53). However, he also was aware that exceptions could be made to this policy. (Tr. 53-54).

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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, LeRoy Voga retained James Nash, an estate planning attorney, to prepare an estate plan, including a trust. LeRoy Voga passed away on September 26, 2006.

In January or February 2009, plaintiffs, Voga’s children, sued on a number of theories, including legal malpractice. Plaintiffs alleged that the trust caused them to incur estate taxes they would not otherwise have incurred. They voluntarily dismissed the case without prejudice, but refiled the case in February 2010. After lengthy proceedings in the trial court, including the filing of two amended complaints, the trial court dismissed the case pursuant to Section 13-214.3(d).

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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 significance of this statement and you start talking. Later, the corporate lawyer prepares a report or refers you for prosecution, all in the name of protecting the company. You have fallen into a trap and you can’t get out.

When you hear that statement (I represent the corporation, not you), you need to understand this:

(1) the corporate lawyer is not here to protect me;

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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 claims judgment against him and he accused the judge, who ruled against him, of a lack of integrity and honesty. Later, he accused other judges of misconduct.

Statements such as the ones made in this case almost always result in discipline. To defeat the professional claim, the lawyer would have to prove all the statements were factually true, which, of course, he cannot do. It is always permissible to question the reasoning of an opinion. It is improper to question the integrity of the judge or other lawyer.

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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, soon after filing the affidavit, he became aware that James Volgar had several other heirs, but he failed to correct the affidavit.

The opinion explains:

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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 the lawyer who obtains a referral. The lawyer making the referral collects the referral fee. This is the third referral fee dispute I have seen in the Illinois reports this year. The increase in referral fee disputes may be due to the tough economic times in the legal profession. That may, in turn, cause lawyers to fight with each other over fees.

The Facts:

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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 a decision dismissing a legal malpractice case against a lawyer, who became involved in the guardianship case.

Molloy had dementia and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. In February 2009, Harris filed a petition to be appointed temporary guardian of Ms. Molloy and a petition for the appointment of a guardian for a disabled person.

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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 difficult to demonstrate in a legal malpractice context.

Here the court agreed that wife could have obtained maintenance had the lawyers been diligent in asking for it.  Thus, summary judgment in favor of the law firm was reversed.

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EVANSTON INSURANCE COMPANY v. RISEBOROUGH, Ill: Supreme Court 2014 – Google Scholar.

The Illinois Statute of Repose bars claims against a lawyer arising out of actions that occurred more than six years before the case was filed. In this case, an insurance company (Evanston) sued two lawyers and alleged that the lawyer defendants wrongfully entered into a settlement agreement on behalf of Evanston’s insured.

The lawyer defendants moved to dismissed based upon the Statute of Repose. (735 ILCS 5/13-214.3 (West 2008). The trial court granted the motion, but the Illinois Appellate Court reversed. It held that the statute of repose did not apply because Evanston was not a client of the lawyer defendants.

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Huang v. Brenson, Ill: Appellate Court, 1st Dist. 2014 – Google Scholar.

This opinion affirmed the dismissal of a legal malpractice action filed against a lawyer who defended a legal malpractice case.  This case is unusual because there are two underlying cases, an immigration matter and the legal malpractice case arising out of the immigration matter.

Plaintiff John Huang is an immigration lawyer. The defendant was Ian Brenson, who defended Huang in a legal malpractice action.

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