A lawyer and his client have been ordered to pay more than $1 million in sanctions and penalties after filing as many as seven amended complaints against a condo association.

According to news reports, plaintiff Marshall Spiegel, through his attorney John Xydakis, sued his condo association, 1618 Sheridan Road Condominium Association. In February 2018, Cook County (IL) Judge Margaret Ann Brennan denied Spiegel’s request to file a 99-count, 223-page fifth amended complaint and later that year denied his motion to reconsider that ruling. In a second related case, Spiegel filed a lawsuit accusing the village of Wilmette of violating his constitutional rights by asking him to stop tracking his neighbors’ activities to prove they were violating condo association rules. A U.S. Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals panel issued an opinion earlier this year upholding the decision of U.S. District Judge Sara Ellis to dismiss that complaint.

Back in Cook County, Judge Brennan said Spiegel filed seven amended complaints against the condo association and a number of motions and noted three cases were consolidated into one action. Stating the “cases have a convoluted and torturous history,” Brennan said the claims included concerns such as “placement of empty water bottles in front of his doorway, voicemails left on his answering machine, lawn furniture purchased for common areas, neighbors hiding in the bushes … and association bylaws that prohibit Spiegel from having shirtless massages next to the pool.”

Several entities pursued sanctions under Illinois Supreme Court Rule 137, which Brennan granted, noting “Xydakis filed claims against nearly every resident” of the condo and “without any factual basis … alleged serious offenses, including theft, slander, harassment and stalking.”

“Spiegel and Xydakis have shown complete disregard for the judicial process through their egregious conduct,” Brennan added.

—Source: cookcountyrecord.com