Don’t Sue The Other Party’s Lawyer
Unfortunately, one of the most common ways for a lawyer to be sued is by an opposing party. As a lawyer, you owe a duty to your client. You do not owe a duty to the opposing party. (There are duties to the Court and duties to comply with professional rules too, but those are not at involved here.) In my career I have been sued twice by opposing parties. Both cases were dismissed.
Cole v. Yanoff, 2025 IL App (1st) 241017-U is a new version of this old story. Yanoff represented a landlord who sued and sought to evict Cole. In the eviction case (the first case) Cole then sued Yanoff for breach of contract, intentional infliction of emotional distress. After he lost the eviction case, Cole filed another case (the second case) against Yanoff. The Circuit Court dismissed the second case on the grounds of the Absolute Litigation privilege and Cole appealed. The absolute litigation privilege prohibits a litigant from suing the other party’s lawyer if the cause of action arises out of the legal work the lawyer did.