More Insanity

We now move from the sublime to the ridiculous. Oliver, Close, Worden, Winkler and Greenwald have now sued the lawyer for FTI, alleging that he should resue the insurance company. The theory is that since there was not a trial, there was no decision on the merits. The problem is that Illinois Supreme Court Rule 273 specifically states that any involuntary dismissal is a decision on the merits. The case against the insurance company was dismissed because Oliver, Close, Worden, Winkler and Greenwald failed to reinstate the case as is required by Supreme Court Rule 369. And they didn’t do anything for over three years, not ten days or thirty days or even a whole year. It is interesting that the firm chose to sue FTI’s lawyer and not simply resue the insurance company themselves. I believe the reason to be that they are trying to intimidate counsel for FTI. They don’t want the insurance company’s lawyer to show up and ask for sanctions, which he would surely get.
The real issue again is how a law firm that has such a disregard for its own client can continue to do business. On its web site the firm claims the following clients:
Chase Bank; Rockford Bank & Trust; First National Bank of Beloit; Commercial Mortgage & Finance Co.; Aqua-Aerobics Systems, Inc.; Seiberling Associates, Inc.; Bourn & Koch, Inc.; Rockford Pubic Library; Quality Metal Finishing co.; Smith Oil corp.; Great American Insurance Companies; Dial Machine, Ins.; Rochelle Travel Plaza; FTI International, Inc.; Nelson Carlson Mechanical Contractors Co.; Pierce Biotechnology, Inc.; Kasper Trucking, Inc.; YMCA of the Rock River; Rockford Health System; Rockford Memorial Hospital; SupplyCore, Inc.; Rollette Oil Co., Inc.
Of course, FTI, which is most assuredly not a client of Oliver, Close, Worden, Winkler and Greenwald, is listed so it is difficult take the list with a lot of confidence.
Nevertheless, if they are clients, how can these clients continue to do business with these guys ? And if they continue to have this firm represent them, what does that say about how they will treat their own customers? It seems to me that if a client is looking for a lawyer who will abuse the system, that client is unlikely to be looking for fairness in other transactions.