Page 16 - John Hundley 2018

bonuses to its employees and Dr. Atkins commensurate with the amount necessary to reduce its
taxable income to zero.” The trial court’s view that that meant it could not prove lost profits “would
allow a windfall to wrongdoers merely because the professional corporation has decided to run its
business in the most tax-efficient manner,” the panel said. “The law did not develop to allow such a
boon to wrongdoers.”

The “circuit court erred when it found as a matter of law that the Corporation could not
demonstrate its lost profits based on the Corporation itself being unprofitable yet Dr. Atkins being
highly compensated personally,” the court said. Accordingly, it sent the case back to the trial court for
further proceedings.

Percentage Of Work In State Not Critical For IWPCA Claim

That 92% of the work was performed out-of-state is not, by itself, grounds for holding that Illinois
residents’ wage payment claims are improper under the Illinois Wage Payment & Collection Act (820
ILCS 115), the Appellate Court in Chicago ruled recently.

Ruling in Watts v. ADDO Management, LLC, 2018 IL App (1st) 170201, the
panel overturned a trial court judge who dismissed a claim under the act because
only 8% of the plaintiff truck drivers’ route was in Illinois.

In Watts, the plaintiffs resided in Illinois; two of the four alleged “employers”
were located in Illinois; as third “employer” worked in Illinois; and the fourth
“employer” (a Michigan limited liability company) utilized space for its trucks in
Illinois.

The panel held that those facts were sufficient for the act’s application to “all
employers and employees in this State” (820 ILCS 115/1). It said the “act’s
applicability does not involve the consideration of the percentage of work performed
by Illinois employees inside Illinois.”

All Partnerships Now Under 1997 Act

All Illinois partnerships formed under the Uniform Partnership Act of 1917 now are governed by
the Uniform Partnership Act of 1997, a panel of the Appellate Court’s Third District has held.

Ruling in Alwan v. Kickapoo-Edwards Land Trust, 2018 IL App (3d) 170165, the panel said the
1997 Act “expressly states its temporal reach” when it states that “[o]n and after January 1, 2008, this
Act governs all partnerships” (805 ILCS 206/1206(b)).

It said that under that plain language, it is “immaterial . . . when the partnerships were formed or if
they opted in for earlier coverage under the 1997 Act.”

Brenda\Sharp Thinking\#153.pdf

●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●
SHARP-HUNDLEY, P.C.

1115 Harrison, Mt. Vernon, IL 62864 • Telephone 618-242-0200 • Facsimile 618-242-1170
www.sharp-hundley.com

Business Transactions • Litigation • Financial Law • Real Estate • Corporate • Commercial Disputes • Creditors’ Rights
Arbitration & Mediation • Estate Planning • Probate • Appeals

John T. Hundley: John@sharp-hundley.com; Trevor S. Sawyer: Trevor@sharp-hundley.com

Advertising Material