On April 24, 2025, the Third District of the Illinois Appellate Court issued a decision affirming in all respects the firm’s recent trial victory in the case Wood River, LLC v. SFA Holdings, Inc.
The case involved the guaranty of a commercial lease for the Carson Pirie Scott department store formerly located at the Yorktown Shopping Center in Lombard, Illinois. TDR represented a single-purpose entity, Wood River, LLC, which was formed to acquire the guaranty of Carson’s long-term commercial lease and the related legal claims. The guarantor, formerly known as Saks, Incorporated, contested Wood River’s standing to enforce the guaranty and its alleged damages.
In 2023, TDR partners Brian Haussmann and Kyle Cooper and associate Megan Ryan tried the case over 4 days in the Circuit Court of DuPage County. The circuit court ruled in Wood River’s favor and awarded Wood River approximately $14 million in damages, contractual pre-judgment interest, and attorneys’ fees.
On appeal, Saks again challenged Wood River’s standing, sought an offset for proceeds recovered from selling the property after the lease default, asserted that the circuit court erred in admitting at trial general ledgers evidencing the property’s operating expenses, and argued that the circuit court’s award of pre-judgment interest was excessive.
TDR attorneys Brian Haussmann, John Fitzgerald, Kyle Cooper, and Megan Ryan briefed the appeal, and in January of this year, Haussmann argued the case before a panel of the appellate court.
In its decision, the appellate court rejected each of Saks’s arguments. The decision emphasized the strength of the evidence that Wood River adduced at trial, including through presentations of fact and expert witness testimony regarding the market for this property and the damages incurred as the result of Saks’s guaranty default.
“This decision really validates the decision to go to trial, rather than to expend additional time and resources on motion practice,” said Haussmann. “We are very pleased with the outcome and I am grateful for the hard work and dedication of this talented team.”
TDR associate Elizabeth Coburn, paralegal Robert Crump, and executive assistant Andrea Lightfoot also helped the team at trial and on appeal.
The case is Wood River, LLC v. SFA Holdings, Inc. f/k/a Saks, Incorporated, 2025 IL App (3d) 240165-U. A copy of the decision is attached.