Attorney and firm sued for legal malpractice

Two people involved in an auto accident in 2002 claim legal malpractice in a lawsuit filed against their former attorney and law firm.

According to the complaint filed Aug. 17 in St. Clair County Circuit Court, Sidney and LaToi Williams sustained neck and back injuries in an accident on Dec. 21, 2002, in Fairview Heights.

The Williams, represented by Thomas C. Rich of Fairview Heights, claim attorney Lisa Pennock and the firm Dixon & Johnston failed to properly and timely file a complaint for comparative negligence against the driver responsible for the accident.

They also allege that Pennock and the firm failed to properly and timely file a claim for arbitration under their uninsured motorist coverage and that they were not notified that a statute of limitations applied in their case.

"That defendant did not advise plaintiff of any of the aforesaid acts of negligence and/or omissions and plaintiff only found out about them by contacting the new attorneys on Aug. 7, 2006," the complaint states.

The eight-count suit seeks in excess of $400,000 in damages, costs and a jury trial.