Exculpatory and limitation of damages provisions are staples of commercial transactions; especially in the service contract setting. The former shields a contracting party from all liability (“if something goes wrong, I’m not responsible”), while the latter caps a party’s monetary damages (“if something goes wrong, my maximum liability is $100”). For decades, cases across the land have grappled …
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Defamation Law: The Qualified Privilege Defense (N.D. Ill.)
In Tamburo v. Dworkin, 2013 WL 5408540 (N.D.Ill. 2013), an Internet libel case, the Illinois Northern District examined the nature and reach of the qualified privilege and truth defenses to defamation claims filed by a software company against a defendant that made disparaging comments about the company on web message boards. Facts: Defendant, a professional dog breeder, created a website that …
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Contractual Impossibility? Global Economic Crash Doesn’t Excuse Performance Of Real Estate Deal – Illinois Court
In YPI 180 N. LaSalle, LLC v. 180 N. LaSalle II, LLC, 403 Ill.App.3d 1 (1st Dist. 2010), the court examined whether the 2008 global credit crisis was significant and unforeseen enough to merit application of the impossibility of performance doctrine in connection with a real estate contract for the sale of a Chicago office building. Facts The …