Summary Judgment Victory for Real Estate Developer

Pretzel & Stouffer Partner, Jim Sipchen, recently obtained summary judgment for a real estate developer and its officers. The multimillion-dollar fraud and breach of fiduciary duty case had been brought by an investor and member of a limited liability company (LLC) against the LLC and its other members. The Plaintiff claimed that he had been fraudulently induced to invest over $5 million in the development of a high rise condominium building in Chicago. His lawsuit alleged that he invested based upon the Defendants’ misrepresentations of the cost of the development and that increased construction costs ultimately caused the project to become less profitable. Defendants proved that the Plaintiff, along with his architect consultant, ratified and approved each and every change to the construction of the building. Thus, the Court found there to be no triable issue for a jury to even consider, and the Defendants’ Motion for summary judgment was granted.