Missteps justify finding that attorney lost out on fees in case

Lawyers’ Forum

By Dodie O’Keefe

Dodie O’Keefe is a Law Clerk for the Honorable Justice Terrence Lavin, First District. Please contact Dodie at okeefedodie@gmail.com with any questions or comments.

Posted July 9, 2020 10:54 AM

In Vandenberg v. RQM, LLC, 2020 IL App (1st) 190544, the 1st District Appellate Court concluded that an attorney’s unethical behavior in a former clients’ case effectively sunk the firm’s claim seeking attorney fees from that case. The underlying case involved a tragic accident that rendered Scot Vandenberg, who fell from an upper yacht deck, a quadriplegic. The Vandenbergs retained what is now McNabola Law Group, P.C., or MLG, to represent them in the case against the yacht owner and manufacturers, which ultimately …

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