Court Opinion

ID: 9740135
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-26 20:28:45.259887+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T07:24:16.400187
License: Public Domain

JUSTICE WARD, dissenting: I consider the appellate court was correct in reversing the trial court’s denial of punitive damages. As the majority notes, Macks was an attorney engaged in real estate investments and was chairman of the board of a Chicago bank. Dr. Wernick and he were cousins and were, as Macks put it, “like brothers.” The doctor obviously reposed unqualified trust in Macks. He had drawn the doctor’s will and that of his wife. Upon the wife’s death, he served as the attorney for her estate, and in the matters involved here, there was between the doctor and Macks a relationship that went beyond the typical fiduciary relation. As the majority observed, Macks does not contest that he breached his fiduciary relationship. But his conduct breached more, and I would uphold the appellate court’s holding that punitive damages should have been imposed.