Murphy and Tuckey Win Summary Judgment Motion

Lauren Tuckey and Ed Murphy won a summary judgment motion in a Cook County breach of contract suit brought against a Lipe Lyons client, a janitorial service, by a grocery store chain  with whom it had a contract for floor cleaning services. The plaintiff-store alleged that the defendant-janitorial service had breached its contractual duty to defend and indemnify plaintiff for the cost of defending a previous premises liability suit in which both the store and the service were defendants. The plaintiff also alleged that the defendant failed to procure proper insurance for the store as required by the contract. The court granted the defendant’s motion for summary judgment on the basis that it did not owe a duty to defend the claim against the store because the underlying complaint alleged independent acts of negligence by store employees which did not arise out of the defendant’s negligence. The court also entered summary judgment for the defendant on a second count, alleging failure to procure insurance, because the defendant had purchased an insurance policy which covered the store as an additional insured and the carrier had refused to defend on the basis of the allegations of the complaint in the underlying premises liability case. The circuit court also denied the cross motion for summary judgment filed by the plaintiff. The plaintiff has filed a notice of appeal.