‘It Ends When I Say So!’ – Automatically Renewing Contracts in Illinois

My early experiences with automatic contract renewals weren’t warm and fuzzy ones.  Growing up, I recall Columbia House’s ageless pitchman Dick Clark breathlessly hawking “13 tapes for a dollar!” (or was it a penny?) offers across the pre-cable television airscape. I’d frantically sign up, the cassettes would soon arrive and – for a while, at least – …

Is It a New Contract Or Modification of an Existing One? Illinois Case Discusses Why It Matters

In business relationships that contemplate a series of reciprocal services, it’s at times unclear if extra services are being offered as a modification to an existing contract or are done as part of a new agreement.  Landmark Engineering v. Holevoet, 2016 IL App (1st) 150723-U examines this sometimes fine-line difference and illustrates in stark relief …

Course of Dealing Leads to Implied-In-Fact Contract Judgment in Construction Spat – IL First Dist.

While a signed agreement is almost always preferable to an oral one, the absence of a writing won’t always doom a breach of contract action. Trapani v. Elliot Group, Inc., 2016 IL App (1st) 143734, examines what happens when parties don’t sign a contract but still act as if an agreement exists. In a construction …