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7^th Circuit Court of Appeals

Case Name: Blanchard & Associates v. Lupin Pharmaceuticals, Inc., et al.

Case No.: 17-1903

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

Focus: Breach of Contract and Unjust Enrichment

In 2009 Blanchard & Associates, a Chicago law firm, provided legal services to an Indian pharmaceutical company, Lupin Ltd. (“Lupin India”), and its American subsidiary, Lupin Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (“Lupin USA”). The advice concerned the patentability of a generic birth‐control drug that Lupin India planned to launch in the United States through Lupin USA. When the Lupin companies initially sought Blanchard’s advice, the firm sent an engagement letter outlining its hourly fees and other terms. Neither Lupin India nor Lupin USA signed the letter, but Blanchard provided the requested legal services and the companies paid the firm for its work—at least at first. In October 2009 Blanchard sent its two final invoices but they went unpaid. Seven years later Blanchard sued the Lupin companies for breach of contract and unjust enrichment. A district judge dismissed both claims as untimely.

We agree that the unjust‐enrichment claim is untimely. It accrued in 2009 when Blanchard furnished the services and the Lupin companies did not pay, so the five‐year statute of limitations expired long before suit was commenced. But the contract claim is timely. Though the engagement letter is un‐ signed, it counts as a written contract under Illinois limitations law, and the claim for breach is therefore governed by a ten‐year statute of limitations. See 735 ILL. COMP. STAT. 5/13‐ 206. Blanchard filed suit within that time, so we reverse and remand for further proceedings on the contract claim.

Reversed and Remanded

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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.