Attorney sued by former client for negligence

Martin S. Schwartz filed a lawsuit Nov. 18 in the Cook County Circuit Court against Richard S. Zachary.

Schwartz claims Zachary failed to represent him in a legal matter involving claims under the anti-fraud provisions of the Commodity Exchange Act in 2010.

In his suit, Schwartz alleges that Zachary never filed a response to a motion to dismiss and failed to appear in court at the time the motion was to be argued.

As a result, the complaint states, the lawsuit was dismissed for want of prosecution on Nov. 18, 2011.

Schwartz asserts he was never notified of the motion to dismiss and only learned of the dismissal after consulting a new attorney.

According to the suit, Schwartz contacted Zachary and told him the case was dismissed. Zachary allegedly told Schwartz he would file a motion to vacate the dismissal, but he never did, the suit states.

Schwartz is now suing Zachary for negligent representation, and is seeking more than $50,000 in damages. He is being represented by Chicago attorney Anthony S. DiVincenzo.

Circuit Court of Cook County Case No. 2013L013203.

This is a report on a civil lawsuit filed in the Circuit Court of Cook County. The details in this report come from an original complaint filed by a plaintiff. Please note, a complaint represents an accusation by a private individual, not the government. It is not an indication of guilt, and it only represents one side of the story.