Deceptive Trade Practices Act

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7^th Circuit Court of Appeals

Case Name: Alexis Veljkovic et al v. Carlson Hotels, Inc., et al

Case No.: 16-3723

Officials: POSNER, ROVNER, and WILLIAMS, Circuit Judges

Focus: Deceptive Trade Practices Act

In or around 2011, the plaintiffs allege, Carlson began planning with Prigan Holding to retrofit the Old Mill property for a hotel. As a result of the retrofitting, the Old Mill became the site of a four‐star, multi‐million‐dollar Radisson Blu Hotel complex that adds many modern elements to the Old Mill’s industrial frame. See Graft, “Old Mill Hotel Bel‐ grade,” http://graftlab.com/portfolio_page/old‐mill‐hotel‐bel grade/ (visited May 12, 2017). Carlson doesn’t own the hotel or the property it sits on—Prigan Holding does—but Carl‐ son is the licensor of the Radisson Blu brand, and a subsidi‐ ary of Carlson participates in the management of the hotel.   Since about 2000—ten years before the construction of the new hotel—the plaintiffs’ families have been frantically endeavoring to recover their rights over the Old Mill. In 2009 the family secured a major victory when a Serbian court an‐ nulled the declaration of the Veljkovic family to have been enemies of the state, ruling that the convictions of the family members had been the result of “staged trials” designed to deprive them of their property. (We don’t know whether members of the Dimic family, the co‐plaintiff, have been similarly rehabilitated.) The plaintiffs claim to be entitled not only to rights over the Old Mill but also to damages for the use of the property by Carlson and Prigan. The plaintiffs sued Carlson in federal district court in Illinois (basing jurisdiction on diversity of citizenship), charging Carlson with trespass, conversion, conspiracy, unjust enrichment, constructive trust, and viola‐ tion of the Minnesota Deceptive Trade Practices Act, Minn. Stat. Ann. § 325D.44.

Affirmed

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Attorney Derek A. Hawkins is the managing partner at Hawkins Law Offices LLC, where he heads up the firm’s startup law practice. He specializes in business formation, corporate governance, intellectual property protection, private equity and venture capital funding and mergers & acquisitions. Check out the website at www.hawkins-lawoffices.com or contact them at 262-737-8825.