Appellate Victory Secured for Insurance Company

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 that action. The plaintiff claimed to have entered into a verbal settlement with the defendants in that case, as well as their insurer and the attorneys representing them, but the trial court denied her motion to enforce the alleged settlement. After the jury returned a verdict for the plaintiff in an amount less than the alleged settlement, she filed this contract action, claiming that the defendants had violated their agreement to settle; she did not raise the issue in her posttrial motion in the tort action, in which she sought trial costs. The circuit court dismissed this contract action, finding it to be an improper collateral attack on the judgment in the tort case, and the appellate court affirmed.