Zapata Hermanos Sucesores, S.A. v. Hearthside Baking Co.

313 F.3d 385 (7th Cir. 2002)

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Nature of the Case

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Facts

Zapata, (P) a Mexican corporation that supplied Lenell (D), a U.S. wholesale baker of cookies, with cookie tins. D became delinquent. P brought suit under the CISG for money due under 110 invoices, amounting to some $900,000 and also sought prejudgment interest plus attorneys' fees, which it contended are 'losses' within the meaning of the Convention and are therefore an automatic entitlement of a plaintiff who prevails in a suit under the Convention. The judge granted judgment as a matter of law for P on 93 of the 110 invoices, totaling $850,000. P's claim for money due under the remaining invoices was submitted to the jury, which found in favor of D. D had filed several counterclaims; the judge dismissed some of them, and the jury ruled for P on the others. The jury awarded P $350,000 in prejudgment interest, and the judge then tacked on the attorneys' fees--the entire attorneys' fees that P had incurred during the litigation. The district judge ordered D to pay P $550,000 in attorneys' fees. From that order, which the judge based both on a provision of the Convention on Contracts for the International Sale of Goods, Jan. 1, 1988, 15 U.S.C. App., and on the inherent authority of the courts to punish the conduct of litigation in bad faith, D appeals.