Chicago Business Litigation Lawyer Blog
The First District Appellate Court of Illinois recently affirmed the entry of summary judgment against the plaintiff in a commercial breach of contract and mechanic’s lien dispute. In upholding the grant of summary judgment, the Court found that the plaintiff’s discovery responses doomed its mechanic’s lien claim, providing yet another example of why it is crucial for a party to carefully review its discovery responses – something the best commercial litigation attorneys make painstaking efforts to do.
The case stems from a dispute arising over an alleged verbal contract between the plaintiff, MEP Construction, LLC, and defendant, Truco MP, LLC, to build out the defendant’s restaurant. According to the plaintiff’s complaint, under the oral contract, it agreed to provide “construction management and other related services” to the defendant for a cost of $791,781.16 (though the parties later agreed to have the plaintiff do an additional $80,000.00 of work). The plaintiff further alleged that it “fully performed” its contractual obligations, but the defendant only made partial payment of $612,447.15 and refused to pay anything further. The plaintiff later recorded a mechanic’s lien naming the defendant and others and claiming an amount of $251,870.45 was owed to it.
In August 2017, the plaintiff filed a three-count complaint against the defendant alleging breach of contract and seeking to foreclose on the mechanic’s lien. In the course of discovery, the defendant issued a document request to the plaintiff asking for all documents showing all payments that the plaintiff had made for work performed either “by MEP or at the direction of MEP.” The plaintiff’s response to the document request stated that all “contractors, subcontractors and material were paid directly by Truco.” The defendant also sought production of all contracts between the plaintiff and “any and all contractors, sub-contractors or other persons with whom MEP contracted for purposes of performing work” at the property. The plaintiff responded to this request by stating that all contractors and subcontractors “contracted directly with Truco” and were paid directly by Truco. Continue reading ›