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Practice Area: Legal Malpractice Defense

Brian Henry lectures to animation and medical illustrators at the UIC Medical Center

Brian Henry recently lectured to computer animation and medical illustrators at the UIC Medical Center regarding demonstrative trial exhibits. Using real-world examples of medical illustrations and medical animations, Brian demonstrated how trial exhibits can effectively educate jurors to the anatomy and/or the medical procedure and to aid experts in explaining their opinions in a trial.

July 2022 | Firm News

Sommer Luzynczyk and Kayla Condeni win dismissal with prejudice

Sommer Luzynczyk and Kayla Condeni win dismissal with prejudice based on lack of standing in a putative class action lawsuit against the estate of a deceased physician. The lawsuit brought in the Circuit Court of Cook County alleged a pattern of conduct extending back 29+ years and involved the alleged failure to administer routine childhood …

May 2022 | Firm News

Brian Henry speaks at the University of Chicago Medical Center

Brian Henry recently was a guest lecturer at the University of Chicago Medical Center for emergency medicine resident physicians covering multiple medical liability topics . This was the 49th year of this seminar and Mr. Henry has been a guest lecturer for more than 30 years.

April 2022 | Firm News

Sommer Luzynczyk will serve as speaker at the IDC’s 2021 A to Z Litigation Academy

Sommer Luzynczyk will serve as speaker at the IDC’s 2021 A to Z Litigation Academy, which will be presented over eight sessions, from September 2021 through April 2022. Sommer will speak on the topic of discovery, including strategies for drafting written discovery, preparing for depositions, and managing discovery in general. This new academy is designed …

July 2021 | Firm News

Eckler publishes monograph on forum non conveniens

Pretzel & Stouffer partner Donald Patrick Eckler published a monograph on forum non conveniens in the IDC Quarterly with Andrew Corkery, David A Warnick, Michael D. Gallo, and Adam Carter.  In addition, he recently spoke to the CBA YLS Health and Hospital Committee presenting a program entitled “Should I Stay or Should I Go: Recent Developments in Forum Non Conveniens …

March 2021 | Firm News

Everybody Wants to Rule the World: Adverse Domination and Legal Malpractice Claims

  Pretzel & Stouffer partner, Donald Eckler, together with Alice Sherren published an article in the Professional Liability Defense Quarterly entitled “Everybody Wants to Rule the World: Adverse Domination and Legal Malpractice Claims.” The article discusses the adverse domination theory as an exception to the statute of limitations in relation to legal malpractice claims and, …

January 2020 | Firm News

Jim Sipchen Speaks at PLDF Annual Meeting

On September 26, with Jennifer Groszek, Pretzel & Stouffer shareholder, Jim Sipchen, presented at the Professional Liability Defense Federation’s (PLDF) Annual Meeting, “Bankruptcy Pitfalls for the Collection Attorney: The FDCPA, Automatic Stay, and Discharge Injunction.”  

September 2019 | Firm News

Jim Sipchen will be speaking at PLDF Annual Meeting

Pretzel & Stouffer partner Jim Sipchen will be speaking at the Professional Liability Defense Federation Annual Meeting later this year. He will be addressing liability issues for collection lawyers, including bankruptcy and the FDCPA.

July 2019 | Firm News

Summary Judgment for Law Firm in Breach of Fiduciary Duty Case

Matthew J. Egan recently obtained summary judgment in the Circuit Court of Cook County on behalf of a law firm, which had been sued for breach of fiduciary duty by a former client. The former client alleged that the law firm had a conflict of interest and used confidential information he had entrusted to the firm …

November 2018 | Firm News

Appellate Victory for Attorney Accused of Committing Legal Malpractice during Whistleblower Lawsuit

Jim Sipchen and Tom Draths recently prevailed in the Illinois Appellate Court on behalf of an attorney who was alleged to have committed legal malpractice in the representation of a client in an underlying whistleblower/retaliatory discharge suit filed against Nicor Gas, Co. Plaintiff alleged that attorney was negligent in failing to take adequate discovery on his claims and …

September 2018 | Firm News

Appellate Court Victory in Legal Malpractice Case

Pretzel & Stouffer partners Matthew J. Egan and Brendan Nelligan recently prevailed in the Illinois Appellate Court on behalf of the firm’s client, an attorney who had been sued for legal malpractice arising from his representation of a client in litigation which challenged the plaintiff’s performance of fiduciary duties as the trustee of a trust. See, 2018 IL App …

September 2018 | Firm News

Another Appellate Victory in a Legal Malpractice Case

Pretzel & Stouffer partners Matthew J. Egan and Brendan Nelligan once again prevailed in the Illinois Appellate Court on behalf of the firm’s client, an attorney who was sued for legal malpractice arising from his representation of certain clients in multiple mortgage foreclosure cases. The circuit court had dismissed the plaintiffs’ complaint on the grounds that it did not …

September 2018 | Firm News

Firm Wins Victory in Appellate Court for Condominium Association

The Illinois Appellate Court recently issued an opinion affirming a dismissal which Pretzel & Stouffer partners John H. Scheid and Matthew J. Egan won in the Circuit Court of Cook County in favor of the firm’s client, a condominium association. The case involved a large Chicago bank, which foreclosed on a mortgage it held on a condominium and was …

August 2018 | Firm News

Appellate Court Affirms Dismissal of Medical Malpractice Action

The Appellate Court of Illinois has affirmed the dismissal of several defendants, including a doctor and a professional corporation represented by Pretzel & Stouffer, finding that the trial court properly dismissed the plaintiff’s medical malpractice action as an impermissible second refiling of a previous action. Scott L. Howie of Pretzel & Stouffer, retained specifically to handle …

May 2018 | Firm News

Court Dismisses Legal Malpractice Claims Against Labor Union and Attorney

Matthew J. Egan and Brendan J. Nelligan successfully defended a state-wide labor union and one of its employee-attorneys against a legal malpractice claim one of the union’s members brought against the union and the attorney. The plaintiff had been terminated for misconduct following disciplinary proceedings that were conducted pursuant to a collective bargaining agreement between the union and …

April 2018 | Firm News

Speaking at Medical Malpractice Seminar

Mimi Moon will be speaking at the Illinois Defense Trial Counsel’s (IDC) seminar entitled “New Trends in Medical Malpractice: From Conflict Checks to Trial.” Mimi will be speaking about birth injury cases, including a discussion on effective strategies for attacking and reducing damages in catastrophic birth injury cases. Strategies for offsetting damages will be addressed, including …

February 2018 | Firm News

P&S Obtains Dismissal for Attorney on Grounds of Absolute Immunity

Matthew J. Egan recently persuaded the Circuit Court of Cook County to dismiss with prejudice a respondent in discovery action against the Firm’s client, an attorney whom the court had appointed to serve as the representative for children whose parents were engaged in contentious child custody litigation. One of the parents filed suit against her attorney …

October 2017 | Firm News

Client’s Dismissal Obtained from Legal Malpractice Case

Pretzel & Stouffer partners Matthew J. Egan and Brendan Nelligan recently prevailed on a Motion to Dismiss on behalf of the firm’s client in a legal malpractice case in the Circuit Court of Cook County. P&S represented an attorney who defended the plaintiff in a lawsuit that challenged her actions as trustee of a trust. The plaintiff alleged that …

September 2017 | Firm News

Immediate Dismissal Granted in Attorney Malpractice Case

Matthew J. Egan and Quinn P. Donnelly successfully defended two attorneys against a claim for legal malpractice based on the attorneys’ representation of a dentist in an attempt to collect a disputed debt from a third-party. The third-party, a serial litigant, asserted a claim against the two attorneys. Mr. Egan and Mr. Donnelly were successful in obtaining the …

September 2017 | Firm News

Significant Victory in an Accounting Malpractice Case

Jim Sipchen and Matthew Tibble obtained a very significant victory in an accounting malpractice case, convincing the Illinois Appellate Court, First District, to uphold a dismissal based upon the statute of limitations. The case is the first to distinguish a situation where an accountant negligently fails to file a tax return by its due date from one …

January 2014 | Firm News