Litigation over pictures of the Indianapolis skyline form the backdrop for the Seventh Circuit’s recent examination of the elements of a proper affirmative defense under Federal pleading rules and the concept of ‘finality’ for res judicata purposes in Bell v. Taylor. There, several small businesses infringed plaintiff’s copyrights in two photographs of downtown Indianapolis: one …
Author Archives: PaulP
Three-Year Limitations Period Governs Bank Customer’s Suit for Misapplied Deposits – IL First Dist.
Now we can add PSI Resources, LLC v. MB Financial Bank (2016 IL App (1st) 152204) to the case canon of decisions that harmonize conflicting statutes of limitations and show how hard it is for a corporate account holder to successfully sue its bank. The plaintiff, an assignee of three related companies**, sued the companies’ …
Six-year Delay in Asking For Earnest Money Back Too Long – IL Court Applies Laches Defense
Earlier this year, an Illinois appeal court examined the equitable defense of laches in an earnest money dispute between two contracting parties and former friends. Derived from an archaic French word – laschesse – meaning “dilatory,” laches applies where a plaintiff sits on his legal rights to the point where it’s unfair to make a defendant mount …