CHICAGO–A Cook County woman is suing a lawyer, alleging the defendant allowed a friend of her elderly father to bilk him out of almost a half-million dollars.
Irene Kogan, as power of attorney for her father, Emil Kogan, filed a lawsuit Nov. 20 in Cook County Circuit Court against Steven S. Russo, alleging legal malpractice.
According to the complaint, Emil Kogan suffered a stroke in 2010 that left him declared incompetent by a physician in June 2010. After Emil’s friend, Abella Edelstein, hired a doctor to rule him competent so she could induce him to marry her, she spent $400,000 of his life savings, the suit says.
Irene Kogan and other family members consulted with Russo to obtain a divorce on their father’s behalf. The suit says the actions Russo took did not dissolve the marriage or preserve his assets, as was promised.
The Kogans seek a jury trial and damages of between $350,000 and $400,000, plus litigation costs. She is represented by attorney Thomas W. Gooch III of Gauthier & Gooch in Wauconda.
Cook County Circuit Court case number 2015-L063082.