Client of Orland Park attorney claims negligence led to the denial of bankruptcy petition

A man is suing an Orland Park attorney who he claims caused his petition for bankruptcy to be denied.

Dennis Stasiewicz filed a lawsuit Oct. 30 in Cook County Circuit Court against Leonard Gargas, alleging negligence.

According to the complaint, Stasiewicz and his wife retained Gargas to represent them in filing a Chapter 7 bankruptcy petition on Oct. 24, 2012. Stasiewicz says Gargas provided a crude questionnaire that day so that Gargas could use his answers to prepare the bankruptcy petition and schedules.

Stasiewicz says he and his wife met with Gargas again on Oct. 29, 2012, for approximately 20 minutes, during which time he contends Gargas did not go over the documents he had prepared for accuracy, and the bankruptcy petition was filed that day.

Despite Stasiewicz's factual answers to the questionnaire, the suit alleges Gargas made errors in the petition, omitting assets Stasiewicz listed, such as three parcels of real estate, a motor boat, stock shares, four checking accounts and a life insurance policy, among others. Stasiewicz claims Gargas also inexplicably included items in the petition that he did not list, like monthly education payments and gambling winnings.

Stasiewicz further accuses Gargas of failing to appear at a meeting of creditors after one filed a motion for examination, which led to the denial of Stasiewicz's bankruptcy petition.

Stasiewicz is seeking more than $1.15 million in damages and is represented by Chicago attorney Mark Steven Wheeler.

Cook County Circuit Court case number: 2014L011235.

This is a report on a civil lawsuit filed in Cook County Circuit Court. 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 represents only one side of the story.