The Illinois Appellate Court recently followed the weight of foreign authority to narrowly define “claim accrual” under Section 9-404(a)(2) of the Uniform Commercial Code (“UCC”). (810 ILCS 5/9-404(a)(2)). Specifically, the Court held a claim does not accrue until a cause of action has accrued. The case is: Puritan Finance Corp. v. Bechstein Construction Corp., 2012…
Category Archives: Business Disputes
Ineffective Assignment for Collection
What happens when there is acrimony amongst the sibling shareholders of a family owned and operated business? The case is Kenny v. Kenny Industries, Inc., 2012 IL App (1st) 111782 (September 4, 2012). Kenny Industries, Inc. was formed as a holding company for the Kenny family’s business entities. Several Kenny siblings, including Gerard Kenny, were…
New Rules for Citations to Discover Assets
Governor Quinn just signed into law the amendment to 5/2-1402 which deals with supplemental proceedings and in particular, citations to discover assets. See: http://www.ilga.gov/legislation/publicacts/fulltext.asp?Name=097-0848 . The effective date is July 25, 2012. The amendments apply to any Citation and subsequent actions initiated AFTER that date. Members of the Illinois Creditors Bar Association and the Creditors…
Passing The Buck
Businesses have to spend money to make money. Sometimes, businesses have to spend money to comply with various government regulations. Although a business can pass along some of its costs of doing business, a business may find itself subject to a class action lawsuit if it passes along its costs by adding a “Government Processing…
Subject Matter Waiver – A Possible Consequence of Getting the Deal Done
Your client corporation is working with other entities to purchase a target corporation. The deal is progressing and your client is compelled to share certain attorney-client communications with the other entities with which they are working. Recently, the Illinois Appellate Court has found that those shared communications – and all communications relating to the same…
Sausage Maker’s Trade Secret Settlement Was Not a Capital Gain
I am about to launch into a foolish endeavor: writing an article about tax law. I hate tax law. I hate doing my taxes every April. I’m not a tax lawyer and never will be. I admire tax lawyers — their creativity, their ingenuity, their ability to master the plethora of ever-changing tax code provisions…
Tapping the Till
You obtained a judgment, now what? For many commercial litigators, obtaining a judgment is often easier than enforcing it. This article concerns a specific and rarely used method of enforcement, known as tapping the till. The “till tap” has a history of use in California where a judgment creditor can seek to appoint the sheriff…
Piercing the Corporate Veil
By Christine Polk Mohr and John B. Alsterda A corporation is a legal entity created by or under the authority of the laws of a State. The corporation is distinct from the individuals who comprise it. That is, a corporation is distinct from its shareholders. The term “corporate veil” generally defines the insulation provided to…
Retention of Jurisdiction to Enforce a Settlement Agreement
Attorneys often settle cases with dismissal orders which provide for dismissals “with prejudice” but which also provide that the court shall retain jurisdiction to enforce the settlement. The enforceability of such a jurisdictional retention provision now depends upon whether the settlement is in federal or state court. The distinction is significant since most cases are…