A new lawsuit pitting Chicago personal injury law firms and partners against one another includes allegations of conspiracy and concealing $5 million in revenue.
Francis Morrissey, a named partner in the firm of Wise Morrissey, which specializes in personal injury litigation, filed a complaint Jan. 5 in Cook County Circuit Court against David Wise, the other partner in Wise Morrissey. The lawsuit, which was also filed in the name of the Wise Morrissey firm, also names as defendant attorney John Nisivaco and his firm, Chicago Injury Law.
In the complaint, Morrissey alleged Wise conspired with Nisivaco to conceal a multimillion-dollar personal injury settlement and deprive “Morrissey of a significant share of his partnership equity and millions of dollars in partnership profits.” According to the complaint, Morrissey expected his firm to share more than $10 million in legal fees from the contested settlement and alleged Wise wouldn’t agree their firm should sue Nisivaco and Chicago Injury Law.
Both Wise and Nisivaco denied the allegations in Morrissey's complaint, and said they intended to fight the lawsuit in court.
The complaint details the history of the firm, dating to its November 2013 founding as Burke Wise Morrissey & Kaveny. Original equal partners Kevin Burke and Elizabeth Kaveny eventually withdrew. Upon beginning operation as Wise Morrissey, according to Morrissey, Wise’s seniority put him in charge of finances and daily operations, although the partnership contract required agreement on major firm decisions.
Morrissey said he specializes in medical malpractice while Wise focuses on personal injury and, before the present dispute, “had an excellent relationship and a synergy in their practice areas.” He also explained a revolving loan agreement with Signature Bank, regularly “a significant seven-figure amount.”
The complaint alleges Nisivaco entered the picture in 2020 during office lease negotiations. Morrissey said Wise suggested allowing Nisivaco’s single-attorney firm to use space in the Wise Morrissey suite, including the firm’s staff and resources. Although Chicago Injury Law wouldn’t pay rent, Morrissey alleged Wise said the smaller firm would collaborate on large personal injury cases and evenly split fee recovery in those matters.
At the time, Morrissey alleged, Wise mentioned Nisivaco was representing a woman who suffered a serious brain injury and projected a potential payout of at least $10 million. In June 2021, Wise Morrissey signed an 11-year lease for their office at 161 N. Clark St., with annual rent exceeding $311,000. In August 2022 the firm renewed its annual line with Signature Bank, including Morrissey renewing a personal guaranty of that loan.
Morrissey said Wise approached him in the fall of 2022 to express “he was extremely unhappy with the current partnership agreement.” Morrissey said he was “surprised and shocked by the sudden complaints” about the firm’s financial health and acknowledged Covid mitigations “cause a complete shutdown of trial settings in medical negligence cases,” but that he expected 2023 to deliver a return to pre-pandemic activity.
A couple of weeks later, Morrissey said, Wise gave him a written partnership restructuring demand that would leave him with only 25% equity instead of half. The amendment also called for it to take effect retroactively to Jan. 1, 2022, “which might require Morrissey to transfer a substantial portion of his income to Wise.”
Following that, Morrissey alleged, came direct and implied threats from Wise to sue Morrissey and dissolve the firm. Eventually, Morrissey said, he learned of the settlement in the brain injury case and allegedly found on company servers a copy of an agreement between Wise Morrissey and Chicago Injury Law to split resulting legal fees.
Morrissey alleged he had never been told of progress in the case, which he discovered was settled in May 2022 with no money ever deposited to the Wise Morrissey operating account.
Alleging Wise displayed allegedly “increasingly volatile and aggressive behavior,” Morrissey continued to press for information on the settlement, especially since Wise allegedly insisted their firm was in dire financial condition. In late December, Morrissey said, Wise allegedly claimed he waived the fees because their firm didn’t work on the case in question, though Morrissey said he had significant evidence to the contrary.
“It was painfully clear that Wise was making things up on the fly now,” Morrissey alleged, “in a desperate attempt to cover his fast-unraveling scheme — he had thrown away a 20-plus year friendship and successful law partnership” to claim the firm’s entire $5 million share of the payout.
Morrissey alleged Wise’s claim he waived the fee constituted an admission of breaching his fiduciary duty to the firm, as Morrissey would have to give permission or at least acknowledge such a decision. Morrissey said he named Nisivaco and his firm as defendants in the lawsuit in order to force an accounting of the brain injury settlement, including an allegation Nisivaco said the retainer agreement between the firms — of which Morrissey had been unaware at the time — was unenforceable and invalid.
In addition to demanding a jury trial, Morrissey seeks actual damages and punitive damages in excess of $1 million. Formal counts against Wise include breach of fiduciary duty, conversion and conspiracy to defraud. Formal counts against Nisivaco and his firm include conspiracy to defraud and breach of fiduciary duty and interference with a contractual relationship and expected economic advantage, along with a count against all defendants for an accounting of the costs and settlement funds from the brain injury litigation, as well as any other cases in which the firms acted as co-counsel.
The complaint also brings counts, on behalf of Wise Morrissey, against Chicago Injury Law for breach of contract with an alternative complaint that, even if there is a determination no contract existed, “Nisivcao and Chicago Injury Law received the benefit of millions of dollars” through use of Wise Morrissey staff, resources and office space, including the firm’s malpractice insurance policy and reputation.
Representing Morrissey in the case is Eugene Geekie, of Naperville.
Wise is represented by attorney Martin J. O'Hara, of the firm of Much Shelist, of Chicago.
In a statement on Wise's behalf, O'Hara said:
"Mr. Morrissey had recently been informed by Mr. Wise that changes in the firm were necessary given the imbalance of their respective contributions to the firm’s finances and management. Mr. Morrissey’s response was to sue two friends of nearly 30 years, one of whom previously has acted as a referring attorney to the firm, asserting a claim for fees the firm did not earn in a case on which Mr. Morrissey performed no work.
"Contrary to Mr. Morrissey’s allegations, neither Mr. Wise nor the firm received any fees or compensation from the case as alleged by Mr. Morrissey. Had Mr. Morrissey fully investigated these issues pre-suit, he would have learned that the allegations he makes in his complaint are unfounded. Mr. Wise will proceed to vigorously defend himself and the reputation of the firm in court against the unfounded claims and allegations, and expects full vindication."
Nisivaco also responded to the lawsuit. "The lawsuit filed by Frank Morrissey contains allegations that are baseless and untrue. The case will be vigorously defended and I fully expect to prevail," Nisivaco said.