Paul Porvaznik – Business Litigator
Case Notes and Summaries of Recent Cases (State and Federal Courts – Illinois Focus)
I see this often: plaintiff sues a defendant for breach of contract. The defendant has more financial resources than the plaintiff and the contract doesn’t have an attorneys’ fees provision. Meaning, each side is responsible for its own fees. After several months, the plaintiff gets financially (and mentally) worn down by the richer defendant – who by now …
Continue reading “Fee Shifting – Is ‘Prevailing Party’ Language Required?”
This one naturally resonated with me as I’ve experienced how time-consuming and expensive it is to monitor and enforce a settlement agreement that, in theory, ended the case. In Sprint Nextel v. AU Electronics, Inc., 2014 WL 2580, the parties executed a written settlement agreement ending litigation involving defendants’ illegal sale of Sprint cell phones. The agreement required …
Continue reading “Settlement Agreement Construed Like Any Other Contract”
The bitter breakup of a medical practice provides the setting for the Illinois Fifth District to consider the scope of a non-compete clause and how it impacts a minority shareholder’s buy-out rights. Gingrich v. Midkiff, 2014 IL App (5th) 120332-U presents a dispute between two former partners in a medical corporation. At the medical practice’s inception – …
Continue reading “Medical Practice Break-Up Spawns Non-Compete Dispute”