Suit Against Home Inspector Thrown Out Based on Contractual Liquidated Damages Clause and Disclaimers

In Boshyan v. Private I. Home Inspections, Inc., 2014 IL App (1st) 287715, the First District examines the interplay between a liquidated damages provision and limitation of liability language in a written home inspection contract. The plaintiff home buyer sued his home inspector for breach of contract after the plaintiff encountered property defects after he moved …

Fitness Formula Club’s Contractual Release Defeats Member’s Personal Training Mishap (The ‘The Beach is That-A-Way’ Post)

This one’s just in time for the annual blizzard of new gym memberships and personal training sign-ups each January seems to bring.  Cox v. US Fitness, LLC d/b/a Fitness Formula Club, 2013 IL App (1st) 122442, examines whether a gym (FFC) membership agreement’s liability release is enforceable against a gym patron who sued after she broke her wrist while attempting an exercise during …

Contractual Exculpatory Provisions and Procedural and Substantive Unconscionability – Some Illinois Bullet-Points

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 …