Morris v. Margulis & Grant, P.C.
Illinois Appellate Court, Fifth District
718 N.E.2d 709 (1999)
Edward Morris (plaintiff), facing charges connected to a bank failure, consulted an attorney at the Bryan Cave firm who had represented him personally for years, asking the firm to represent him in the bank matter; Bryan Cave also represented the bank itself (where Morris's personal attorney served as a director), and the firm formally declined the bank-matter representation, denied receiving confidential information, and denied ever undertaking the representation, though it did help prepare a response to an enforcement notice. After Morris's personal attorney stopped communicating with him and Morris retained other counsel, he was convicted, and he then sued Bryan Cave and its partners (defendants) for breach of attorney-client fiduciary duties; the trial court granted the firm summary judgment on the ground no attorney-client relationship existed as to the bank matter.
Whether a client's subjective belief that he consulted with an attorney for the evident purpose of obtaining legal advice and secured the attorney's representation may create an attorney-client relationship, even without a written agreement, payment of fees or retainer, or other furtherance of the representation.