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MADISON - ST. CLAIR RECORD

Friday, March 29, 2024

Millar tells judge Lakin reported him to ARDC to gain advantage in pending suit

Millar

Lakin

Jeff Millar claims former employer Brad Lakin reported him to the Illinois Attorney Registration and Disciplinary Commission, but that's news to the ARDC.

Their website on May 28 showed nothing pending against Millar, who wrote to a New Jersey judge on May 18 that "a decision is still forthcoming from the Illinois ARDC."

Millar advised U.S. District Judge Jose Linares that Lakin reported him to gain an advantage in a suit the LakinChapman firm filed against him in Missouri.

Millar told Linares that Missouri regulators already denied Lakin's complaint.

Lakin fired Millar last December.

Millar obtained a letter from Lakin client Jessica Hall discharging the Lakin firm and hiring Millar for her consumer class action against telephone company Sprint.

Lakin ignored the letter and objected on Hall's behalf to a class action settlement that former Lakin teammate Paul Weiss reached with Sprint in Linares's court.

Hall revoked her letter and retained Phil Bock of Chicago, a Lakin teammate and her original lawyer on the case.

Millar persisted as Hall's counsel and moved to withdraw the objection Lakin filed.

Lakin moved for sanctions, and Millar moved to strike Lakin's motion.

Lakin answered that Millar should have withdrawn the motion he filed for Hall.

Millar replied on May 18 that Hall instructed him to do nothing and he did nothing.

"This just further demonstrates that at all times, even after his apparent termination, Millar acted in compliance with his then client's instructions," Millar wrote.

Millar wrote that comparison of Hall's affidavits shows Lakin's nefarious conduct.

"Hall's veracity is certainly suspect given the divergent explanations she offers in each of her affidavits, and in particular, the omissions of the allegations inculpating Mr. Lakin in recapturing her as a client," he wrote.

Linares granted preliminary approval to a settlement in December, but in January Lakin branded it a reverse auction.

In a reverse auction, a business defending similar class actions against different lawyers settles with the weakest group of lawyers at the lowest figure.

Linares held a fairness hearing in March.

As of May 28 he hadn't decided whether the settlement is reasonable.

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