$400K Judgment Filed against Boroian and Francorp
OLYMPIA FIELDS, Ill. – On Monday, the Cook County Recorder of Deeds posted a judgment against Donald Boroian and his franchise development firm Francorp, Inc. in the amount of $403,834.69. The memorandum of judgment dated December 8, 2009 was in favor of five franchisee plaintiffs who sued the company and Boroian in the South Beach Franchising lawsuit in Florida. The franchise owners claimed they were fraudulently induced into purchasing their franchises through a deceptive scheme devised by the firm and their franchisor client Carol (Meyers) Brothers.
The jury verdict in the case awarded the franchisees all the damages they were seeking, plus entitlement to attorney fees and costs. On December 1, the law firm representing the plaintiffs, Zarco Einhorn Salkowski & Brito, filed their motion asking the court to determine the amount of those legal fees.
Boroian and Francorp currently have numerous federal and tax liens filed against them, at last count totaling over $1.5 million, according to Cook County records.
One of the main issues brought out in the South Beach case was the unauthorized practice of law claim against Francorp and its staff. Although that issue wasn’t a separate claim in the lawsuit, attorney Robert Einhorn stated that it was evidence that supported the negligence and the unfair and deceptive trade practices claims. He said, “So, there’s no official finding on it but it could be assumed that the jury concluded that by entering its verdict on everything claimed.”
Boroian’s attorney Carl F. Schoeppl, Schoeppl & Burke, stated that the court should have directed a verdict on all counts and committed error in letting the case go to the jury. He said the court granted a directed verdict in Francorp and Don Boroian’s favor on two of the counts in the complaint, which are under Illinois’ law. He explained, that count 10 of the complaint was for the unauthorized practice of law, a negligence per se count. Count 11 was on the Illinois unfair and deceptive trade practices count.
In another case filed in a Missouri circuit court on behalf of JitterSwing LLC, attorney Allen Kircher sued Francorp for being engaged in the practice of law in preparing disclosure documents without being licensed in that state. Although the court dismissed his client’s petition saying that the contract stipulated the venue should be tried in an Illinois court, it is now on appeal. Kircher argued that the practice of law in Missouri is controlled by the Missouri Supreme Court and the legislature, and that law cannot be abolished by a private contract between private parties. He is raising a single issue on appeal: a claim for damages against Francorp under Missouri law for engaging in the “law business” without a license in preparing franchise disclosure documents.
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- Francorp Trial Nears, IRS Closes in on Boroian
- Francorp Attorneys Walk Out over Illegal Practice of Law
- IRS Demands Near-$1 Million Payment from Francorp's Boroian
- Franchisees Accuse Francorp of Unauthorized Practice of Law in Partnering with Client
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