Professional Liability Defense

Brian Henry and Kayla Condeni successfully defended an orthopedic surgeon in a 1.5 week trial in Cook County. The orthopedic surgeon was accused of negligently overlengthening a patient’s leg when performing a total hip replacement. The plaintiff requested over $1 million in damages after claiming the patient could no longer work, was disfigured, and experiencing ...

Robert Chemers and Rich Burgland obtained summary judgment in the Circuit Court of Cook County for a professional liability insurer that it had no duty to defend its lawyer insured in connection with a Hollywood movie production deal involving multiple complex issues deftly handled by Rich, who took the lead on the dispositive motion.

Robert Chemers and Dave Larson won a summary judgment and default declaratory judgment in federal court in Springfield, IL for an insurer client based on the insured providing notice of an accident 16 months after it occurred and notice of suit some 9 months after it was filed. The district judge held that the notice ...

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.

John Smith and Ryan Shupe recently obtained dismissal of their orthopedic surgery client in a lawsuit alleging medical malpractice.  The plaintiff claimed that postoperative ordering and administration of pain medications caused cardiac arrest, hypoxic brain damage, and death.  John and Ryan litigated the case for several years, through extensive discovery, discovery disputes, and an appeal.  ...

  Robert Chemers – Insurance Coverage and Appellate Matt Egan – Civil Litigation, Professional Liability, and Employment Law Ed Ruff – Class Action Mass Torts,  Products Liability, Medical Malpractice, and Business Litigation Richard Waris – Business Litigation and Professional Liability We congratulate Robert, Matt, Ed, and Dick for again being recognized for their outstanding legal ...

  Pretzel & Stouffer attorneys, Michael Barry, Rich Burgland, Tom Draths, and Matthew Reddy, were named emerging lawyers by Leading Lawyers Magazine. Click here to learn more about their practices that span insurance coverage, professional liability defense, commercial litigation, medical malpractice and general tort defense  

  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.” See the article below. The article discusses the adverse domination theory as an exception to the statute of limitations in relation to ...

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 ...

Pretzel & Stouffer partner, Donald Patrick Eckler, recently published an article in the Illinois Defense Counsel Quarterly on Mitchell v. Stonecasters, LLC, 2018 IL App (2d) 180127. In the article he discusses the continued expansion of the definition of professional services under the Illinois Public Accounting Act for the purposes of the statute of limitations ...

Pretzel & Stouffer attorney Matthew Tibble recently gave a webinar for continuing education for accountants entitled “Professional Liability Risk Management Beyond Busy Season.” Matt presented with Joseph W. Richardson, CP, CFE, from Harper & Pearson Company, P.C., and Sarah Ference, CPA, from CNA Insurance. The webinar focused on the importance of liability risk beyond the ...

Brendan Nelligan and Matthew J. Egan once again 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 alleged advice they provided certain clients which purportedly resulted in a loss suffered by the clients in a subsequent collections action. The circuit court had ...

Quinn P. Donnelly achieved a directed verdict plus the award of costs in a matter filed in McHenry County against an architect. The plaintiff claimed that the architect had breached his contract by refusing to submit the plans for approval to the city preventing the plaintiff from proceeding with a residential renovation project and resulting in ...

Suzanne Crowley, defended five investigators against claims of civil rights violations, malicious prosecution and intentional infliction of emotional distress. The investigators were appointed to assist two special prosecutors concerning alleged wrongdoing by a State’s Attorney and his staff. Plaintiffs alleged that the special prosecutors and the investigators fabricated evidence and withheld exculpatory evidence resulting in ...