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MADISON - ST. CLAIR RECORD

Friday, March 29, 2024

Lawyer is deposition wrecker, says legal malpractice claimant

Tom Lakin

Brad Lakin

Suzanne Krause of Tennessee can't move forward with a legal malpractice suit against the Lakin Law Firm of Wood River and former Lakin lawyer Scott Meyer of Belleville because, she says, Meyer keeps wrecking everyone else's deposition schedules.

Krause's attorney, Kevin McQuillan of Downers Grove, moved March 24 for a court order holding Meyer to everyone else's schedule, but McQuillan moved too late.

Madison County Circuit Judge Barbara Crowder set a hearing on the motion April 23, casting doubt on depositions that Krause and the Lakins had set April 14 and 15.

McQuillan attached to his motion three months of futile correspondence in search of deposition dates that Meyer could keep.

"The plaintiff is the widowed mother of a two-year-old child and also works full time," McQuillan wrote.

Depositions will take two days, he wrote, and Krause needs to set them back-to-back to simplify babysitting and taking time off from work.

"The primary difficulty has been with attorney Scott B. Meyer," McQuillan wrote.

Meyer has claimed he can't make himself available for consecutive days, McQuillan wrote, and he refused to participate in a March 17 conference call.

At times, McQuillan wrote, all other parties offered to start depositions after status hearings at 9 a.m., to accommodate Meyer.

"Initially, Mr. Meyer indicated he could start the depositions following those hearings," he wrote.

"Thereafter, when the depositions were set to accommodate him, Mr. Meyer then advised he would not be available until the afternoon," he wrote.

Meyer represents himself in the case, "pro se."

Krause retained the Lakin firm after suffering a leg injury in Tennessee.

She claims Meyer and the firm let the statute of limitations run out on her claim.

Along with McQuillan, William North of Downers Grove and George Ripplinger of Belleville represent Krause.

Michael Nester and Chi-Yong Throckmartin of Belleville represent the Lakin firm, its founder Tom Lakin and his son Brad Lakin.

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