WINSTON & STRAWN, an Illinois partnership, Plaintiff/Counterdefendant-Appellee, v. CHESTER W. NOSAL, Defendant/Counterplaintiff-Appellant., 279 Ill. App. 3d 231

Summary

Appellant expelled attorney challenged the lower court order that granted summary judgment on behalf of appellee law firm. Appellant argued that his expulsion was effectuated under an invalidly enacted partnership agreement, that there had been a breach of fiduciary duty, and that his expulsion operated to dissolve the partnership. The court reversed the lower court judgment and remanded for further proceedings because the lower court had improperly made factual determinations concerning evidence presented by appellee. The court held that appellant's expulsion was in conformance with the procedural requirements of the partnership agreements but that the agreement also granted all partners unrestricted access to the books and records of the partnership. The outplacement of appellant followed his ongoing requests for sensitive firm information and this raised an inference that appellant was expelled solely because he persisted in invoking his rights under the partnership agreement. The ...