Plaintiff filed a declaratory judgment action seeking a declaration that plaintiff’s contract with its former law firm was “superseded and replaced” by a subsequent contract between the defendant and plaintiff's insurance company. The trial court entered summary judgment in favor of the defendant and plaintiff appealed. The appellate court affirmed, explaining that the plaintiff and defendant did not execute a written agreement to modify their contingent fee agreement¸ as was required by the explicit terms of the agreement, that there was no meeting of the minds that a letter agreement between defendant and plaintiff’s insurance company was intended to extinguish the prior fee agreement, and that the trial court did not error in finding that no novation occurred. (MIKVA and MITCHELL, concurring)
Illinois Appellate Court
Civil Court
Attorney Fee Contract