Section Newsletters

Articles From Paul B. Porvaznik

Young v. CES, Inc. By Paul B. Porvaznik Construction Law, February 2015 In October 2014, the Second District expanded on the Illinois Mechanics’ Lien Act’s substantive and timing requirements and also examined Illinois agency law and discussed what services are and aren’t lienable in Young v. CES.
Contractor’s material breach of construction contract dooms mechanics’ lien and breach of contract claims By Paul B. Porvaznik Construction Law, September 2014 In Kasinecz v. Duffy, a contractor suffered a three-pronged defeat in his lawsuit against a homeowner.
Substantial performance doctrine: Contractor defeats finicky homeowners in construction case By Paul B. Porvaznik Construction Law, September 2014 The case of Wolfe Construction should and will likely give property owners pause before they declare a default and fail to pay a contractor.
Law firm’s negligence suit against bank defeated by account agreement and UCC Article 4 (IL Law) By Paul B. Porvaznik Commercial Banking, Collections, and Bankruptcy, April 2014 In July 2013, the Third District appeals court affirmed dismissal of a law firm’s negligence suit against a bank that charged back the firm’s account after a $350,000 check deposited by the firm turned out to be counterfeit.
Collection counsel: Don’t celebrate too soon (The citation set-off and priority rules) By Paul B. Porvaznik Commercial Banking, Collections, and Bankruptcy, January 2014 Creditor’s counsel should be leery of Section 12-708’s set-off provision and the caselaw’s expansive application of a third-party’s set-off rights.
Discovery rule saves plaintiffs’ fraud claims against investment firm (IL – 2d Dist) By Paul B. Porvaznik Commercial Banking, Collections, and Bankruptcy, January 2014 Rasgaitis v. Waterstone Financial Group, Inc. has real value because of its thorough discussion of agency law.
Does ‘Self-Serving’ Evidence Dictate Summary Judgment Defeat? (Ill. Northern District) By Paul B. Porvaznik Commercial Banking, Collections, and Bankruptcy, January 2014 Kuvedina LLC v. Pai is worth reading for many reasons, one being its discussion of Federal court ”abstention doctrine.”
Northern District expansively construes Consumer Fraud Act to cover B-2-B setting in health insurance contract dispute By Paul B. Porvaznik Commercial Banking, Collections, and Bankruptcy, January 2014 In GoHealth, LLC v. Zoom Health, Inc., the Northern District provides a detailed summary of the necessary Illinois pleading elements of some signature business torts in a diversity contract dispute involving the sale of insurance products.
7th Circuit tackles pay-if-paid clause in construction contract By Paul B. Porvaznik Real Estate Law, December 2013 Pay-if-paid and pay-when-paid contract terms raise multiple questions. Such as: while they are often used interchangeably in the caselaw and in construction parlance, is the pay-if-paid vs. pay-if-paid distinction anything more than semantic hair-splitting? And are they even enforceable?
Attorney fees provision in invoice binding on buyer (N.D. Illinois 2013) By Paul B. Porvaznik Commercial Banking, Collections, and Bankruptcy, December 2013 The Northern District recently weighed in on the fee-shifting-language-in-invoice question in VLM Food Trading International, Inc. v. Illinois Trading Co.
Defendant bank not liable for permitting judgment debtor to transfer over $700,000 from accounts By Paul B. Porvaznik Commercial Banking, Collections, and Bankruptcy, December 2013 Mendez v. Republic Bank, a Seventh Circuit case, examines whether a bank that unfreezes the wrong bank accounts (and allows a judgment debtor to transfer hundreds of thousands of dollars) can be liable to the judgment creditor for violating a citation’s restraining provisions.
First District examines punitive damage standards in fraud suit By Paul B. Porvaznik Real Estate Law, December 2013 In K2 Development, LLC v. Braunstein, the First District addressed Illinois law’s compensatory and punitive damages guideposts in a convoluted real estate fraud suit filed by an LLC against one of its two members.
Illinois business records: Getting them in at trial By Paul B. Porvaznik Commercial Banking, Collections, and Bankruptcy, December 2013 In Bank of America v. Land, the Fifth District discussed the content and reach of the business record exception to the hearsay rule in the context of a mortgage foreclosure suit.
Illinois court voids fraudulent real estate contract, applies ‘special relationship’ fiduciary duty rule By Paul B. Porvaznik Real Estate Law, December 2013 In Thorne v. Riggs, the Third District Court examined Illinois fraud in the inducement and fraudulent concealment law and discussed the content and scope of the “special relationship” fiduciary duty rule in the real estate investment idiom.
Illinois court: LLC member can file mechanics’ lien against property owned by that LLC By Paul B. Porvaznik Real Estate Law, December 2013 Peabody-Waterside Development, LLC v. Islands of Waterside, LLC examines the LLC-vs.- LLC-member distinction through the prism of a mechanics lien claim where the defendant LLC owns real property and is itself comprised of two separate LLCs, each holding a 50% interest  
Illinois court enforces exculpatory and damage limitations provisions in construction contract By Paul B. Porvaznik Real Estate Law, November 2013 Plaintiff and defendant each had the power to define the limits of their respective obligations and this power extended to the parties’ allocation of the risk of loss.
Implied-in-fact contract claims and motions to reconsider By Paul B. Porvaznik Real Estate Law, November 2013 In 1801 W. Irving, LLC v. Splitt Architects, Ltd., a plaintiff developer sued an architect for breach of an oral contract and for implied indemnity in connection with the construction of a condominium building.

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