Dismissal of legal malpractice suit arising from divorce case

Tom Underwood and R.J. VanSwol obtained the dismissal with prejudice of claims against an attorney based on her alleged failure to raise an argument in an underlying divorce case. After entry of a dissolution judgment, the plaintiff retained the attorney for supplemental work on a post-trial motion that another attorney had already filed, which concerned custody issues. The plaintiff later brought suit against the attorney in the Circuit Court of Cook County, alleging that she should have argued for a different allocation of the marital property. The court dismissed the plaintiff's claims on the basis that the alleged omission was outside the scope of the attorney's retention and the argument could no longer have been raised at the time she was retained.