Practice Area: Appellate Litigation

Pretzel & Stouffer partners Brendan J. Nelligan and Matthew J. Egan secured a victory in the Illinois Appellate Court on behalf of the firm’s client, a law firm to whom the trial court had awarded fees and expenses under principles of quantum meruit from the settlement proceeds of a medical malpractice case in which the …

The firm is pleased to announce that on November 20, 2023, the Illinois Supreme Court issued an order reappointing Matthew J. Egan as a member of the Supreme Court’s Committee on Jury Instructions in Civil Cases and as Vice-Chair of the Committee. Matt has served as a member of the Committee since January 2018 and …

Robert Chemers and David Larson won an affirmance in the Appellate Court, First District, of the summary judgment entered by the circuit court for their insurer client in a coverage dispute with a plaintiff insurer over whether the plaintiff insurer’s named insured was an additional insured on the policy issued by our insurer client to …

After winning at the trial court level through a Motion to Dismiss, Tom and Rich were able to preserve that victory at the appellate level by persuading the Court that their client – a non-profit charitable institution – was entitled to the protections of sovereign immunity. Even though their client was a private entity, the …

Ed Ruff led a Pretzel and Stouffer team that recently secured a victory in the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals, where the court affirmed a multi million-dollar judgment Ed and the team had won in the District Court for the firm’s client, a purchaser of land from a bankruptcy estate, against a claim by a …

Robert Chemers and David Larson obtained a summary judgment for an insurer client in federal district court in Chicago that there was no duty to defend based on 17-month late notice to the insurer by the business sophisticated insured. The Court weighed the recognized factors and found 4 of the 5 weighed against the insured, …

Robert Chemers and Scott Howie won an appeal for an insurer client in the Appellate Court of Illinois, Second District, on an issue of first impression involving an insurer’s Customer Complaint Defense Reimbursement Coverage endorsement on an auto dealer’s policy which provided for reimbursement of reasonable defense expenses incurred for the defense of a customer …

Robert Chemers and David Larson obtained summary judgment for an insurer sued for bad faith for alleged unreasonable and vexatious delay to arbitrate the plaintiff insured’s UM claim. The carrier arbitrated, lost and paid the award, and then was sued for bad faith for the lengthy delay in going to arbitration. Circuit Court ruled that …

Robert Chemers obtained an affirmance in the Wisconsin Court of Appeals of a summary judgment he obtained for an insurer sued in Wisconsin under the direct action statute which insurer did not issue a policy of insurance to anyone in Wisconsin and did not issue a policy of insurance to anyone in Illinois who committed …

Jim Sipchen, John Scheid, and Scott Howie obtained an appellate victory for landowners whose 70-acre farm was the subject of eminent domain proceedings filed in DuPage County, Illinois.  The Illinois Appellate Court’s decision upheld a traverse and motion to dismiss a local municipality’s lawsuit that sought to condemn a private driveway that the landowners had …

Pretzel & Stouffer partners Matthew Egan and Brendan Nelligan prevailed in the Illinois Supreme Court on behalf of the firm’s clients, an attorney and his employer, a union, in a legal malpractice case arising from the attorney’s representation of a police officer in a grievance arbitration proceeding at which the plaintiff, a union member, challenged …

Pretzel & Stouffer partners Robert Chemers  and Scott Howie recently obtained a judgment from the Appellate Court of Illinois, First District, reversing the ruling of the trial court, on our client nursing home’s motion to compel arbitration against a plaintiff resident. The trial court denied the motion to compel arbitration, and the Appellate Court reversed and remanded …

Pretzel & Stouffer partners Brendan Nelligan and Matthew J. Egan prevailed in the Illinois Supreme Court on behalf of the firm’s clients, an attorney and his employer, a union, in a legal malpractice case arising from their representation of a police officer in a grievance arbitration proceeding at which the plaintiff, a union member, challenged the termination …

Pretzel & Stouffer shareholder Robert Chemers argued a case of first impression in the a Illinois Supreme Court yesterday involving the question whether a plaintiff who disclosed a Rule 213(f)(3) controlled expert witness can re-designate the expert as a non- testifying consultant and thereby bury the expert’s negative report? The trial court said no, and the Appellate Court said …

The issue presented is one of first impression in Illinois and concerns whether an agent of a union, who happens to be a lawyer, and who represents a union member in a grievance proceeding, is subject to a claim of professional negligence. The courts around the country have uniformly held they are not.

  Robert Chemers and Paula Villela recently had a Petition for Leave to Appeal granted by the Illinois Supreme Court. The case involves an Appellate Court opinion in a case of first impression which allowed a #plaintiff in a medical malpractice case to re-designate a previously disclosed controlled expert witness and treating physician as a …

  In a significant victory for the insurance industry, Pretzel & Stouffer attorneys, Robert Chemers and Jonathan Federman, prevailed today for an insurer in the Supreme Court of Illinois. The court issued its opinion this morning reversing the trial court and the Illinois Appellate Court, Fifth District, and directing the trial court to enter judgment …

In a case of first impression in Illinois, partners Matthew J. Egan and Brendan J. Nelligan secured a victory in the Appellate Court for a labor union and a union attorney who were sued in the Circuit Court of Cook County by the plaintiff, a union member, based on legal representation the attorney provided the …

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), …