A family owned Mexican company, Zapata Hermanos Sucesores,
S.A. ("Zapata"), sold approximately US$950,000
worth of cookie tins over a period of four years to
the Maurice Lenell Cooky Company ("Lenell"),
an American company that produced baked goods. Lenell
failed to pay Zapata for the cookie tins so Zapata sought
legal advice and instituted legal proceedings against
Lenell for breach of contract in the Federal District
Court of Illinios. The cookie tin sale contracts were
governed by the United Nations Convention on Contracts
for the International Sale of Goods ("CISG").
Zapata succeeded in its Federal District Court claim
and, as part of the Court's order, was awarded US$550,000
as foreseeable loss under Article 74 of the CISG, being
the amount of legal fees incurred by Zapata in bringing
proceedings against Lenell. On appeal to the Federal
Appellate Court, however, the award of legal fees was
overturned. The parties now find themselves contesting
a leave application to appeal to the Supreme Court of
the United States of America in a much anticipated debate
over who should pay the lawyers.
download article in full (pdf)
|
