Holabird & Root hired the Chicago law firm Sabo & Zahn to bring a collection action against a local real estate developer, Horwitz Matthews, Inc. (HM). Sabo won a $150,000

Judgment against HM on behalf of Holabird and then began enforcement proceedings to collect on it. Responding to a citation to discover assets HM provided Sabo with tax returns that were subject to a confidentiality agreement barring the attorneys from disclosing information derived from the returns to anyone outside the firm. Despite the agreement, the Sabo attorneys told about forty of HM’s associates and investors by mail that HM had apportioned to itself a greater percentage of some partnership business than it was entitled to and those investors’ losses had been underreported. HM sued Sabo and Holabird, claiming it was vicariously liable. Is a law firm an agent of its clients, or is it an independent contractor? Should a client be liable for torts committed by its law firm? [Horwitz v. Holabird & Root, 816 N.E.2d 272 (Ill. Sup. Ct. 2004), reh’g denied, (Oct. 4, 2004).]