Gordon Rees Scully Mansukhani Partners Jonathan Federman and Paul Gamboa recently obtained a significant win in the Illinois Appellate Court, Third District, on behalf of their attorney-client.
The underlying case involved a dispute concerning the administration of a family trust. The plaintiff filed one claim against GRSM’s attorney-client, which included allegations of civil conspiracy, fraud, and aiding and abetting, alleging that the attorney-client prepared, notarized, and recorded forged deeds to improperly transfer property from a trust. The plaintiff claimed that she did not discover the alleged fraud until she obtained a forensic report in 2021 and that the statute of limitations should be tolled.
The GRSM team argued that the plaintiff had been adequately notified of the need to investigate potential legal malpractice claims before the expiration of the Illinois two-year statute of limitations, pointing to prior complaints made before 2021 that referenced the alleged fraudulent actions. The Illinois Appellate Court agreed with the defendant’s argument and upheld the dismissal, ruling that the claims were indeed barred by the statute of limitations and that the circuit court had correctly determined that the plaintiff had ample opportunity to investigate and file the claims within the relevant time frame.
The decision upholds Illinois law, reinforcing that the two-year statute of limitations for services provided by an attorney applies, even in the absence of an attorney-client relationship between the parties.
Learn more about GRSM’s Estate & Trust Litigation practice.