Court Error – Damages and Prejudgment Interest

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7^th Circuit Court of Appeals

Case Name: Thorncreek Apartments III, LLC, et al. v. Tom Mick, et al.

Case No.: 15-2295; 15-2303; 16-3556; 15-2296; 15-2302; et al.

Officials: BAUER, EASTERBROOK, and SYKES, Circuit Judges.

Focus: Court Error – Damages and Prejudgment Interest

These consolidated appeals challenge various aspects of a judgment entered on a split jury verdict in a long-running dispute between the Village of Park Forest, Illinois, and Thorncreek Apartments, a large housing complex located in the Village. Thorncreek accused village officials of engaging in a campaign of regulatory harassment based on personal animus against its owner and because many of its residents are black. Thorncreek sued the Village and ten officials for compensatory and punitive damages under several federal and state civil-rights laws.

After a 13-day trial, jurors returned a partial verdict for Thorncreek. The Village and its manager were found liable under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 for a class-of-one equal-protection violation, and the village manager and director of community development were found liable for conspiracy in violation of 42 U.S.C. § 1985(3). In all other respects, the jury sided with the defendants.

Ruling on postverdict motions, the district court tossed out the jury’s liability finding against the community development director but otherwise approved the verdict and entered judgment accordingly. The judge also granted Thorncreek’s motion for prejudgment interest and attorney’s fees, though the award of fees was approximately one-third of what was requested.

Both sides appealed, raising assorted challenges to the judge’s posttrial rulings on damages, prejudgment interest, and attorney’s fees. We find no error and affirm.

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.