BENTON – Senior U.S. District Judge Phil Gilbert, preparing for jury trial on sales commissions, ordered attachment of $750,000 to keep an Italian defendant from removing assets beyond his reach.
On Aug. 3, he ordered paper machine maker Engico not to withdraw from the country any proceeds from sale of a machine in North Carolina.
He found removal threatened irreparable harm because plaintiff Thompson Corrugated Systems likely couldn’t collect any monetary remedy.
Thompson Corrugated Systems agreed to post bond of $1.5 million for satisfaction of any damages from wrongful attachment.
Gilbert plans to start trial Aug. 22.
Engico makes machines for production of corrugated materials.
Thompson Corrugated Systems, a Williamson County business, exclusively represented Engico for North American sales from 2004 to 2019.
Thompson Corrugated Systems sued Engico in 2020, claiming it failed to pay commissions for three sales.
In April, Gilbert found no dispute that Engico must pay the first commission.
After conversion from euros, he set judgment at $202,194.
He found jurors would decide whether an oral contract required Engico to pay the second and third commissions.
“One fundamental principle of Illinois law that appears to escape Engico is that generally, an oral contract is just as enforceable as a written contract as long as there is an offer and acceptance and a meeting of the minds about the terms of the agreement,” Gilbert wrote.
He found that unless the law requires writing, failure to memorialize an agreement doesn’t prevent enforcement if it is otherwise valid.
“It is true that the lack of a writing makes the terms more difficult to prove, but it will not by itself render the agreement unenforceable,” he wrote.
In May, Thompson Corrugated Systems moved for attachment of Engico assets.
Gilbert asked for more information and Thompson Corrugated System owner Frederick Thompson Sr. filed it on July 1.
Thompson advised Gilbert that a machine left Italy after June 17, and was installed by Greif Inc., a North Carolina company.
He stated a belief that Engico would be able to remove the proceeds from the U.S. and place them out of reach for collection of final judgment.
He set argument on attachment for a pretrial conference on Aug. 3.
On July 22, he set prejudgment interest on the first commission to begin on that date in case Engico didn’t immediately pay.
He reserved a decision on exemplary damages, finding he would allow the question to go to the jury if Engico behaved in a truly egregious manner beyond bad faith.
At the pretrial conference he gave Engico three days to deposit with the court any proceeds from sales to Greif Inc. and any proceeds thereafter up to $750,000.
William Klein of Chicago represents Thompson Corrugated Systems.
Robert Minetz of Chicago represents Engico, with Patrick Stufflebeam of the Treassler firm as local counsel.