Wilson v. Coronet Insurance Co.
Illinois Appellate Court
689 N.E.2d 1157 (1997)
- Written by Jody Stuart, JD
Facts
Joyce Wilson was injured when she was hit by a car driven by Bruce Sartin. Sartin was insured by Coronet Insurance Company (Coronet). Joyce, through her mother Patricia Wilson (plaintiff), sued Sartin. Coronet hired Marvin Lansky (defendant) to defend Sartin. Patricia offered to settle for the $15,000 limit on Sartin’s insurance policy, and Coronet refused. After trial, a jury returned a verdict against Sartin and assessed damages in the amount of $3.625 million. Subsequently, Sartin assigned to Patricia his breach-of-fiduciary-duty cause of action against Lansky. Patricia sued Lansky in trial court, alleging that Lansky breached a fiduciary duty owed to Sartin by failing to disclose conflicts of interest. Patricia alleged that Lansky and his law firm had financial interests in Coronet and that Lansky acted as an agent of Coronet throughout the litigation against Sartin. Lansky moved to dismiss the complaint, arguing that Patricia did not plead sufficient facts to state a cause of action for breach of fiduciary duty. The trial court granted the motion, and Patricia appealed.
Rule of Law
Issue
Holding and Reasoning (Cahill, J.)
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