{
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  "name": "PATRICIA WILSON, as Mother and Next Friend of Joyce Ann Wilson, a Minor, and Assignee of Bruce Sartin, Plaintiff-Appellant, v. CORONET INSURANCE COMPANY et al., Defendants-Appellees",
  "name_abbreviation": "Wilson v. Coronet Insurance",
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    "judges": [],
    "parties": [
      "PATRICIA WILSON, as Mother and Next Friend of Joyce Ann Wilson, a Minor, and Assignee of Bruce Sartin, Plaintiff-Appellant, v. CORONET INSURANCE COMPANY et al., Defendants-Appellees."
    ],
    "opinions": [
      {
        "text": "JUSTICE CAHILL\ndelivered the opinion of the court:\nPlaintiff Patricia Wilson appeals from trial court orders dismissing count III of her third-amended complaint. We review whether a party to a lawsuit may assign a cause of action against his lawyer for breach of fiduciary duty. We conclude that he may not.\nIn her third-amended complaint, plaintiff alleges that in November 1986, Joyce Ann Wilson was injured when struck by a vehicle driven by Bruce Sartin. Joyce Ann Wilson, through her mother, the plaintiff, sued Sartin. Sartin was insured by Coronet Insurance Company (Coronet). Coronet retained Fisch, Lansky & Associates to defend Sartin. Marvin Lansky was the trial attorney primarily responsible for the defense.\nOn July 1, 1987, and on May 5, 1989, Wilson offered to settle for the $15,000 limit on the policy. Coronet refused. At this point, plaintiff contends, Coronet\u2019s and Sartin\u2019s interests diverged, presenting an \"actual conflict of interest\u201d for Lansky and his law firm. Plaintiff asserts that when Coronet first learned about the accident, Coronet \"knew or would have, in the exercise of ordinary care, known that the probability of an adverse finding of liability against [Sartin] was great and that the amount of damages resulting from [Sartin\u2019s] acts would far exceed the applicable limits of liability coverage.\u201d\nPlaintiff alleges that Lansky and his law firm had financial interests in Coronet, including: (1) Lansky was paid by Coronet for Sartin\u2019s defense; (2) Fisch, Lansky, & Associates derived most of its business from Coronet, and (3) Kenneth Fisch, a firm partner, was vice-president of Coronet. Plaintiff further alleges that Lansky and his law firm acted as agents of Coronet throughout the litigation against Sartin.\nAfter trial, a jury returned a verdict against Sartin and assessed damages in the amount of $3,625,000. Sartin later assigned his causes of action against Coronet, Lansky, and his law firm to plaintiff. Plaintiff sued defendants.\nIn count III, plaintiff alleges that Lansky and his law firm breached a fiduciary duty owed to Sartin by failing to disclose conflicts of interest.\nDefendants Lansky and his law firm moved to dismiss count III, arguing that plaintiff did not plead sufficient facts to state a cause of action for breach of fiduciary duty. On May 3, 1996, the trial court granted the motion under section 2 \u2014 619 of the Code of Civil Procedure (735 ILCS 5/2 \u2014 619(9) (West 1996)). On May 22, 1996, plaintiff filed a notice of appeal from the May 3, 1996, order.\nPlaintiff argues on appeal that the third-amended complaint sufficiently stated that Lansky and his firm breached a fiduciary duty owed to Sartin by continuing to represent Sartin without revealing a conflict of interest or advising him to seek independent counsel. The trial court found that the facts alleged by plaintiff did not and could not support a cause of action for breach of fiduciary duty.\nWe review a trial court\u2019s dismissal of a complaint under section 2 \u2014 619 de nova. Metrick v. Chatz, 266 Ill. App. 3d 649, 652, 639 N.E.2d 198 (1994). We consider all well-pleaded facts as true, and dismissal is proper only if no facts exist that could entitle plaintiff to recover. Griffin v. Fluellen, 283 Ill. App. 3d 1078, 1083, 670 N.E.2d 845 (1996). An appellate court can affirm a section 2 \u2014 619 dismissal on grounds supported by the record, regardless of the trial court\u2019s reasons. Ko v. Eljer Industries, Inc., 287 Ill. App. 3d 35, 39, 678 N.E.2d 641 (1997).\nWe need not decide whether count III sufficiently alleged that Lansky and his law firm breached a fiduciary duty owed to Sartin. Sartin\u2019s claims against his attorney were not properly assigned to plaintiff.\nIllinois courts have held that legal malpractice claims are not assignable. Brocato v. Prairie State Farmers Insurance Ass\u2019n, 166 Ill. App. 3d 986, 988-89, 520 N.E.2d 1200 (1988); Clement v. Prestwick, 114 Ill. App. 3d 479, 480-81, 448 N.E.2d 1039 (1983); Christison v. Jones, 83 Ill. App. 3d 334, 338-39, 405 N.E.2d 8 (1980). But see McGill v. Lazzaro, 62 Ill. App. 3d 151, 379 N.E.2d 16 (1978) (stating, in dicta, that an action in professional negligence survives an attorney\u2019s death because such an action would be assignable). The reason stems from the nature of the attorney-client relationship and public policy. The fiduciary relationship between an attorney and client is a personal and confidential one, requiring the attorney to exercise \"the utmost degree of fidelity, honesty and good faith.\u201d See Christison, 83 Ill. App. 3d at 338. Illinois courts have reasoned that a malpractice suit is not appr.opriately brought by a stranger to that relationship and that allowing such assignments would commercialize legal malpractice suits, \"debase the legal profession,\u201d \" 'place an undue burden on *** the legal profession *** [and] judicial system, restrict the availability of competent legal services, embarrass the attorney-client relationship and imperil the sanctity of the highly confidential and fiduciary relationship existing between attorney and client.\u2019 \u201d Christison, 83 Ill. App. 3d at 339, quoting Goodley v. Wank & Wank, Inc., 62 Cal. App. 3d 389, 397, 133 Cal. Rptr. 83, 87 (1976).\nAlthough Illinois cases have only applied this rule to legal negligence claims, we see no reason why this rule should not apply to a \"breach of fiduciary duty\u201d claim. A \"breach of fiduciary duty\u201d claim against an attorney is \"[i]ncluded within the rubric of legal malpractice.\u201d Doe v. Roe, 289 Ill. App. 3d 116, 128, 681 N.E.2d 640 (1997), citing Metrick v. Chatz, 266 Ill. App. 3d 649. Sartin\u2019s \"breach of fiduciary duty\u201d claim was not assignable.\nAffirmed in part and dismissed in part.\nCOUSINS, P.J., and GORDON, J., concur.",
        "type": "majority",
        "author": "JUSTICE CAHILL"
      }
    ],
    "attorneys": [
      "Friedman & Olson, Ltd., of Chicago (Roy Olson, of counsel), for appellant.",
      "Pretzel & Stouffer, Chartered, of Chicago (Robert Marc Chemers and John M. McGregor, of counsel), for appellee Coronet Insurance Company.",
      "Jerome G. McSherry & Associates, of Chicago (Joseph M. Eichberger, of counsel), for appellees Marvin S. Lansky and Fisch, Lansky & Associates."
    ],
    "corrections": "",
    "head_matter": "PATRICIA WILSON, as Mother and Next Friend of Joyce Ann Wilson, a Minor, and Assignee of Bruce Sartin, Plaintiff-Appellant, v. CORONET INSURANCE COMPANY et al., Defendants-Appellees.\nFirst District (3rd Division)\nNos. 1\u201496\u20141827, 1\u201496\u20142218, 1\u201496\u20142263 cons.\nOpinion filed December 31, 1997.\nFriedman & Olson, Ltd., of Chicago (Roy Olson, of counsel), for appellant.\nPretzel & Stouffer, Chartered, of Chicago (Robert Marc Chemers and John M. McGregor, of counsel), for appellee Coronet Insurance Company.\nJerome G. McSherry & Associates, of Chicago (Joseph M. Eichberger, of counsel), for appellees Marvin S. Lansky and Fisch, Lansky & Associates."
  },
  "file_name": "0992-01",
  "first_page_order": 1012,
  "last_page_order": 1015
}