Jamie Filipovic and Julie Pearce recently secured a major summary judgment victory for our client, a Chicago-area condominium association and its individual former board members. The individual Plaintiffs sought a declaratory judgment by the Court that certain past actions by Board members were wrongful and violative of the Condominium’s Bylaws. Filipovic and Pearce successfully argued to the Court that the issue was moot, and that the Court could not issue a declaration about Board members’ past conduct because it would have no effect. Additionally, the Court was faced with the issue of whether or not individual Board members can be held liable for failing to produce documents under the Illinois Condominium Property Act, and the Court held, in our favor, that this is an obligation of the Condominium Association itself, and not an obligation of any individual volunteer board members. Perhaps most importantly, Filipovic and Pearce persuaded the court that Plaintiffs were not entitled to seek attorney’s fees from the individually-named Defendants, who were former volunteer board members, because there was no statute, contract, or serious fraud or illegality committed that would provide a basis to hold an individual liable for attorney fees or costs.
