Lillig & Thorsness, Ltd. Obtains Summary Judgment In Cook County

Lillig & Thorsness, Ltd. attorneys Adrian Mendoza and Edward R. Sherman recently obtained a summary judgment ruling in the Circuit Court of Cook County in favor of a longstanding L&T client. The plaintiff filed suit claiming that its property sustained significant structural damage due to water infiltrating the property over the course of an entire year. The source of the water was alleged to be a broken water line in an adjacent property where L&T’s client, a property preservation company, was performing services on behalf of a mortgage servicer.

The plaintiff alleged that L&T’s client owed it a duty to maintain and repair the subject water line. Attorneys Mendoza and Sherman argued that the client did not owe a legal duty as a possessor of the property because it did not have exclusive possession and that it did not voluntary undertake a duty for the plaintiff’s benefit. They also argued that the client did not owe a contractual duty to the plaintiff because the plaintiff was not an intended beneficiary of the contract entered into between L&T’s client and the mortgage servicer.

The court agreed with L&T’s argument and rejected plaintiff’s contention that L&T’s client owed a duty of care and specifically found that there was no evidence that the Plaintiff, as a neighboring property owner, was an intended third party beneficiary of the contract entered into between L&T’s client and the mortgage servicer.

Lillig & Thorsness, Ltd. provides legal representation to property owners, landlords, financial institutions, homeowners associations, developers, contractors and management companies in a variety of matters.