BENTON - General Star Insurance claims it doesn’t have to defend lawyer Andrew Rohne of Marion in a Florida lawsuit because Illinois prohibits coverage for illegal acts.
The Connecticut insurer sued Rohne and his Apex Business Consulting company at U.S. district court in April, claiming he made false representations.
General Star counsel, Christopher Wadley of Chicago, claimed Rohne misrepresented that Apex was a professional corporation rather than a business corporation.
Wadley claimed a professional corporation can practice law, and a business corporation can’t.
He claimed that to the extent the Florida suit arose out of legal services, the conduct constituted a dishonest, fraudulent, criminal, wrongful or malicious act.
Investor James Nelligan sued Rohne and his Apex Holdco company in December, claiming they breached a duty to provide accurate and competent advice about a merger.
Nelligan claimed Rohne failed to exercise a level of skill, care, and diligence that a reasonably prudent advisor would have exercised in similar circumstances.
He claimed he suffered financial harm including millions of dollars in tax liability.
Rohne notified General Star on Jan. 2, and General Star denied coverage on Jan. 22.
Wadley stated in the complaint that General Star asked Rohne for mutual rescission of the policy and sent him a check for reimbursement of all premiums.
He claimed he received no response.
When Apex Business Consulting first applied for a policy, Rohne allegedly represented that it was a professional corporation.
Wadley claimed Rohne represented that no lawyer in Apex served as director, officer, trustee, partner, or fiduciary of any other organization.
Rohne also represented that Apex did not share office space with another organization.
Wadley claimed applications for renewal made the same representations, which were material to the decision to issue the policies.
“Instead, Apex Business Consulting was not a professional corporation,” he wrote.
Wadley claimed one or more lawyers in it including Rohne served as director, officer, trustee, partner, or fiduciary of Apex Holdco.
He claimed Apex Business Consulting also shared space with an organization known as True Test, which provides testosterone and human growth hormone therapy.
He added that performance of legal services by Apex Business Consulting or Rohne violated the state’s Corporation Practice of Law Prohibition Act.
The court clerk randomly assigned Magistrate Judge Mark Beatty but a party declined consent to magistrate jurisdiction and the clerk randomly assigned Senior District Judge Phil Gilbert.
The state’s attorney registration commission shows the Supreme Court admitted Rohne in 2018, and he practices at Apex Business Consulting.
His Linked In page states he’s an attorney with a business and accounting background.