Court Opinion

ID: 9744280
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-26 21:59:11.041858+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T07:24:48.150227
License: Public Domain

JUSTICE SIMON, concurring in part and dissenting in part: I agree that the appellate court erred in reversing the judgment in favor of James York. However, I believe that the wives,.Janis York and Donna LaCroix, were also Mr. Stiefel’s clients. My view is that, when their husbands conferred with him on their own behalf, they were also seeking his advice as agents of their wives, and accordingly there was an attorney-client relationship between Mr. Stiefel and them as well as their husbands. I would therefore reverse the appellate court’s decision as to Mrs. LaCroix. Where a husband and wife both suffer a single financial injury, they should not both recover for it. In the case of Mr. and Mrs. York, although the appellate court decision should be reversed as to her, the reversal should be with the caution that she and Mr. York should not enjoy a double recovery. However, since Mrs. LaCroix’ husband has gained no recovery, I see no reason why she should not have her day in court. Whether this case is characterized in terms of tort or contract, the wives were clients in their own right, not incidental beneficiaries of the attorney-client relationship between Mr. Stiefel and their husbands. When Mr. Stiefel advised the husbands, he was simultaneously providing information to be passed along to the wives. Any other position would be unrealistic on the facts of this case. Mr. Stiefel was dealing with a two-man enterprise, not with a large corporation in which the officers kept their personal and business affairs separate and retained different attorneys to attend to each. Mr. Stiefel had previously handled both business and personal matters for these families. He was the attorney when these husbands and wives purchased their homes. Since he was familiar with the form of ownership and with the mortgage encumbrances on these properties, it was not necessary for the wives to confer with him personally in order to explain the nature or extent of their interests. The fact that the wives did not confer with Mr. Stiefel personally is therefore not dispositive. Since no action was taken in Mr. Stiefel’s office which required the wives’ presence or their signatures at that time, it was reasonable for everyone involved to assume that the wives’ attendance was unnecessary. Even if the husbands did not specifically indicate that the wives would also consider Mr. Stiefel’s advice and act upon it, a reasonably prudent attorney should have been aware from his knowledge of the joint ownership, his previous dealings with these couples, and the nature of the marital relationship that this would be the case. The test as to whether an attorney-client relationship is established should in my opinion be an objective one. If the facts reasonably indicate to the attorney that spouses of those who consult him will also receive his advice and rely on it, the presumption is that the spouses should be regarded as clients. It is not necessary for each spouse to come face to face with the attorney to establish the relationship. If the attorney under these circumstances does not wish to assume responsibility for the other spouse’s action in reliance on his advice, he must expressly disclaim any obligation to that spouse. Pelham v. Griesheimer (1982), 92 Ill. 2d 13, does not apply here. In Pelham, we said, “[F]or a nonclient to succeed in a negligence action against an attorney, he must prove that the primary purpose and intent of the attorney-client relationship itself was to benefit or influence the third party.” (Emphasis added.) (92 Ill. 2d 13, 21.) Since these wives were clients, they should be able to maintain a malpractice action against their allegedly negligent attorney. The situation would be controlled by Pelham if, for example, Mr. Stiefel had advised the husbands to offer as security an insurance policy on which the wives were named as beneficiaries. That is not this case. These wives are not third parties to transactions involving their homes.