In today’s installment of High Class Problems, I feature Peter Francis Geraci, the Chicago bankruptcy lawyer whose pervasive television presence is doubtlessly familiar to weekday afternoon viewers. Geraci and his wife recently won their real estate dispute with a company controlled by a foreign investor over rights to a 40th floor penthouse (“Penthouse”) in Chicago’s tony Michigan Avenue (“Magnificent Mile”) shopping district. Reversing the trial court – who sided with …
Tag Archives: ambiguity
Bagel Shop Successor Tenant Hit For Rent Damages and Attorneys’ Fees in Commercial Lease Case – IL First Dist.
The First District affirmed a money judgment of about $150,000 (including $70,000 in attorneys’ fees) in a commercial lease dispute in Alecta v. BAB Operations, Inc., 2015 IL App (1st) 132916-U. An unpublished opinion, it’s useful for its vivid illustration of the importance of lease drafting clarity and an assigning tenant documenting its intent to …
Consultant’s Quantum Meruit and Time-And-Materials Contract Claims Fail Against Contractor (IL 2d Dist)
Mostardi Platt Environmental, Inc. v. Power Holdings, LLC, 2014 IL App (2d) 130737-U shows the importance of clarity in contract drafting – particularly compensation terms. The case also illustrates the crucial distinction between a time-and-expense (or time and materials) contract and a lump-sum payment contract. Plaintiff was hired to perform environmental assessment services and to secure government permits for …