Practice Area: Appellate Litigation

Pretzel & Stouffer partners, Robert Chemers and Scott Howie, succeeded in having an adversary’s appeal dismissed for lack of appellate jurisdiction in the Appellate Court of Illinois, First District. In a declaratory judgment action, the circuit court entered judgment for the firm’s client, an insurer, holding that it had no duty to defend its insured …

Pretzel & Stouffer attorneys Richard Waris, Jim Sipchen, Quinn Donnelly, and Scott Howie obtained an affirmance in the Illinois Appellate Court, First District, of the dismissal of an action against several defendants, including an insurance company and another law firm. The appeal concerned the alleged settlement of a previous tort action during the trial of …

Tom Draths and Scott Howie recently petitioned the Supreme Court of Illinois to consolidate three lawsuits pending in different judicial circuits under Supreme Court Rule 384. The Supreme Court granted the petition that Tom and Scott prepared on behalf of their client. As a result, their client will defend one consolidated action in Will County …

Robert Chemers and Jonathan Federman successfully argued on appeal for a modification of a judgment against its client in a stacking case in Southern Illinois. In a published Opinion, the Appellate Court, 5th District agreed that coverage within a policy of insurance could not be stacked four separate times. The Court agreed that an amended …

Pretzel & Stouffer trial lawyers Edward Ruff and Suzanne Crowley obtained summary judgment for their client, and firm appellate lawyer Scott Howie obtained affirmance of that judgment on appeal, in a recent case finding that the plaintiff, who had a traumatic amputation of his arm below the elbow while operating a lathe, had an exclusive …

In another example of Pretzel & Stouffer’s robust professional liability defense practice, Brendan Nelligan and Matthew Egan recently prevailed in the Illinois Appellate Court on behalf of the firm’s clients, an accountant and his firm who were sued for professional malpractice arising from allegations that the accountants misadvised certain clients. The circuit court dismissed the …

Robert Chemers and Rich Burgland obtained a major victory for their insurer client in the Mississippi Supreme Court. With the help of local counsel, Dorrance Aultman, Robert and Rich successfully defended an appeal by two claimants. The claimants sought coverage for a wrongful death lawsuit arising out of the death of their adult son who …

Robert Chemers and William Elinski, sustained the summary judgment they obtained in the trial court on appeal in a case involving whether the plaintiff was an employee for the purposes of the Federal Employers’ Liability Act. The plaintiff, an employee of Mobile Rail Services, Inc. (MRS), was injured while servicing a Union Pacific Railroad Company …

The Supreme Court of Illinois allowed a Petition for Leave to Appeal authored by Robert Chemers and Jonathan Federman in an auto insurance bodily injury stacking case. The trial court stacked the $100,000/$300,000 limits 4 times because there were 4 cars on the policy, and the Appellate Court of Illinois, Fifth District, modified that judgment …

  Robert Chemers and Jonathan Federman, successfully argued on appeal for a reversal of the circuit court’s ruling finding coverage pursuant to a professional liability insurance policy as to a motion to adjudicate attorneys’ liens. In a published opinion, the Appellate Court of Illinois, First District, agreed with Robert and Jonathan that a motion to …

Timothy Weaver and Michael Barry recently obtained a defense jury verdict in a medical malpractice case in which a dentist claimed that defendant orthopedic surgeon negligently delayed spine surgery by one day for an acute, repeated low back disc herniation in order to suit his surgical schedule, thereby causing multi-million dollar damages including permanent foot paralysis (drop foot), …