Seventh Circuit Upholds Slashing Of Over $300K In Attorneys’ Fees Based On $2,000 Jury Verdict

An easy to parrot, hard to apply attorney fee maxim involves the “prevailing party” standard.  To get attorneys fees awarded under a statutory or contractual fee-shifting provision, you must “prevail” or win the case.  So what happens when your win is a proverbial Pyrrhic one?  That is, you win the lawsuit but get only a fraction of the money …

Integration Clause Bars Trader’s Commission Claims Against Financial Firm

Integration clauses – also called “merger” clauses – are staples of commercial contracts in diffuse business settings.  The Northern District of Illinois recently found that an integration clause in a compensation agreement defeated a futures trader’s claims for unpaid commissions in Colagrossi v. UBS Securities, LLC, 2014 WL 2515131 (N.D.Ill. 2014). The plaintiff alleged that in 2005, he …

When A Third Party (And Non-Party) Can Enforce An Arbitration Provision

The Northern District compelled arbitration of a multi-count fraud suit filed by a software company against a former salesman and his new employer in Paragon Micro, Inc. v. Bundy, 2014 WL 2441969 (N.D.Ill. 2014). The ex-employee formed his own company and started steering business from his former employer.  The former employer sued for computer tampering, breach of …