Bielski Chapman, Ltd.

Quantum meruit "Plan B" theory saves the day. #construction #litigation #mechanics #lien

Our litigation group, led by Paul Porvaznik and Mike Fates, recently obtained a money damage award of several hundred thousand dollars in a construction lien dispute after a multi-day trial in Will County Circuit Court. On behalf of our fire repair contractor client, we lodged mechanics lien, breach of contract, and quasi-contractual (quantum meruit) claims against the property owner. The property owner, in turn, counter-sued for breach of contract seeking nearly $400,000 in damages. After a four-day bench trial in which ten (10) witnesses testified and over seventy (70) exhibits were offered into evidence, the trial court ruled in our client’s favor on the quantum meruit claim for the total amount of labor and materials we sought at trial. On our client’s case, the key evidence was witness testimony from the various subcontractors who worked on the project, the insurance adjuster who inspected and approved our clients work, and written records from the subject municipality’s building department which demonstrated that multiple inspections of our clients (and its subcontractors’) work passed various inspections. Our client’s business records evidence was also instrumental in buttressing our money damage claims. The Court also ruled in our client’s favor on the Counterclaim; it entered a full defense non-liability judgment for our client. The key to the defense verdict was the property owners’ absence of testimonial or documentary proof that our client breached the subject contract or that the owners suffered any quantifiable damages.

Our litigation group recently obtained dismissal with prejudice of an LLC member being sued individually on a commercial lease in the Chicago suburbs. ? While the lease did not name the corporate entity, the court found that the parties’ intent was for the corporation – not the individual members – to be responsible under the lease. ? Our team prevailed under the agent-of-a-disclosed-principal rule. This rule provides that where a corporate agent sign a contract on behalf of a corporation, that agent is not personally responsible. ? Please reach out to us if we can assist with any commercial or corporate law disputes.

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Bielski Chapman, Ltd.’s litigation head, Paul Porvaznik, was recently given the opportunity to edit the Illinois Institute of Continuing Legal Education’s recent publication on Causes of Action. Paul’s chapter focused on conversion (essentially, civil theft) claims under Illinois law. For decades, IICLE has provided continuing legal education programs and practice manual publications that have educated generations of Illinois lawyers. It is an honor for Firm members to be given opportunities to contribute to such important legal publications.

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BC, Ltd.’s litigation team led by Paul Porvaznik recently prevailed at an arbitration hearing on behalf of our Chicagoland property restoration company client. We sued for breach of contract and conversion after the?insured received and failed to turn over two checks issued by the defendants’ lender that were specifically earmarked to compensate our client for fire damage repair services on the defendants’ property. The defendant argued that our client was fully paid for its services and was not a named payee on the two checks. The arbitrator found credible our client’s witness testimony concerning the specific work performed on the site, that the purpose of the two checks was to compensate our client and the payments that were still owed based on the client’s business records. ? Please feel free to reach out to us for any real estate or construction-related disputes.

Check out our newest blog post regarding estate planning over the holiday season! https://lnkd.in/djMMd288

Our last webinar is almost here! This webinar explores issues that may arise in a client’s lifetime such as divorce, adoption, bankruptcy and even changes in the estate exemption amount. Attendees will learn the implications of life changes for asset protection in the client’s lives. Email [email protected] to learn more.