Continental Casualty Company v. Howard Hoffman and Associates

State: Illinois

Court: 1st District Appellate

Docket No: 1-10-0957, 1-10-1080 cons. Official Re

Case Date: 08/15/2011

Preview:ILLINOIS OFFICIAL REPORTS
Appellate Court

Continental Casualty Co. v. Howard Hoffman & Associates, 2011 IL App (1st) 100957

Appellate Court Caption

CONTINENTAL CASUALTY COMPANY, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. HOWARD HOFFMAN AND ASSOCIATES; HOWARD HOFFMAN; GERALD H. COHEN; and ESTATE OF THOMAS GOLDSTON, Darlene Waters, Administrator, Defendants-Appellants (Estate of Phillip Ewing, Sr., Thomas Leinenweber, Public Administrator; Estate of Fannie McAllister, Vera Posey, Executor; Estate of Butler Tolbert, Ira Tolbert, Administrator; Estate of Harold Pruitt, Lamon Prymil, Administrator; Estate of James Richardson, Ruthie Birt, Executor; Estate of Robie Butcher, Gary T. Butcher, Administrator; Estate of Curtis Hagler, George B. Randolph, Executor; Estate of Oscar Oboza, Sr., Oscar Obozo, Administrator; Estate of Frances Johnson, Renae Murphy, Executor; Estate of Benjamin Rogers, Julia L. Smith, Administrator, and Brittany Chaney, Defendants).

District & No.

First District, First Division Docket Nos. 1-10-0957, 1-10-1080 cons. August 15, 2011 September 20, 2011 In a declaratory judgment action brought by defendant law firm's insurer, the trial court properly determined that the numerous claims against the firm as the result of an employee's embezzlement scheme arising from the management of several probate estates should be treated as a single, related claim subject to the $100,000 "each claim" limit.

Filed Rehearing denied Held
(Note: This syllabus constitutes no part of the opinion of the court but has been prepared by the Reporter of Decisions for the convenience of the reader.)

Decision Under Review

Appeal from the Circuit Court of Cook County, No. 08-CH-25568; the Hon. Stuart E. Palmer, Judge, presiding.

Judgment Counsel on Appeal

Affirmed. Cantwell & Cantwell, of Chicago (Peter A. Cantwell and Paul Hammond, of counsel), for appellant Estate of Thomas Goldston. Collins Bargione & Vukovich, of Chicago (George B. Collins and Benjamin C. Butler, of counsel), for appellant Howard Hoffman & Associates. Troutman Sanders LLP, of Chicago (Christopher H. White, of counsel), and Wiley Rein LLP, of Washington D.C. (Richard A. Simpson and Gary P. Seligman, of counsel), for appellee.

Panel

JUSTICE ROCHFORD delivered the judgment of the court, with opinion. Presiding Justice Hall and Justice Hoffman concurred in the judgment and opinion.

OPINION

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