Lawyers at DBMS successfully litigate a wide variety of civil cases and argue appeals in some of the most challenging jurisdictions in the country.
Plaintiffs v. Defendant Attorney
Defendant Attorney
Outcome:First District Affirmed Circuit Court’s Dismissal
Karen DeGrand, Daniel Cozzi, Meagan VanderWeele and Laura Ieremia achieved an appellate victory in a legal malpractice case involving the plaintiffs’ lawyer’s misconduct – including falsifying date stamps on court documents.
The case led to a published opinion stating that because an attorney perpetrated a fraud on the court by falsifying court documents, the circuit court lost jurisdiction. The opinion includes quotes from Daniel Cozzi’s testimony during an evidentiary hearing about the plaintiffs’ attorney’s misconduct and fraudulent court filings.
The firm uncovered a litany of evidence to support the circuit court’s dismissal of the case. Notably, plaintiffs’ attorney had been disbarred for previously falsifying documents in federal court. This investigation also revealed many inconsistencies in plaintiffs’ attorney’s filings across Cook County and the Northern District of Illinois, which supported the circuit court’s dismissal.