Garvy v. Seyfarth Shaw LLP

Plaintiff sued law firm for legal malpractice, fraud, and breach of fiduciary duty as to corporate advice for management of privately owned holding company. Illinois has not adopted fiduciary-duty exception to attorney-client privilege. Fiduciary-duty exception would not apply where legal advice sought was in connection to adversarial proceeding between fiduciary and client. Attorney-client privilege protects documents and communications related to legal advice sought by firm with outside and in-house counsel, as to Plaintiff's legal malpractice claims against it. Firm could have, but did not, file its own motion for substitution of judge as of right, and firm has no standing to appeal trial court's denial of co-Defendant attorney's substitution motion. (LAVIN and PUCINSKI, concurring.)