Opinion ID: 784819
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 6

Heading: mungo's damages theory

Text: 53 Taylor argues that Mungo prevailed on a damages theory that she did not raise until closing argument — namely, that Taylor failed to advise Mungo about the pros and cons of the April settlement agreement — and that this is somehow improper. In support of this argument, Taylor cites just one case — Burdett v. Miller, 957 F.2d 1375, 1381 (7th Cir.1992). In Burdett, the Seventh Circuit overturned a RICO conviction based on an enterprise theory raised not by the parties but by the district court when it entered its findings of fact and conclusions of law. The Seventh Circuit held that the district court's attempt to inject its own theory of the case after the close of the evidence was improper because it ran counter to the spirit of the adversary system and, more importantly, deprived the defendant of the opportunity to rebut the new enterprise theory. See id. at 1380 (The judge ... changed the plaintiff's theory of the case after the time had passed for the defendant to present contrary evidence.). 54 Of course, the present case is not remotely similar to Burdett. The theory Taylor complains of was not raised by the bankruptcy court but by Mungo's counsel — albeit somewhat late in the game. Moreover, Taylor cannot argue that she was deprived of the opportunity to respond to this theory. Indeed, one of the central claims raised by Mungo from the very onset of the litigation was the claim that Mungo signed the settlement agreement without receiving proper legal advice from her attorney because Taylor pressured her into accepting the settlement agreement with the specter of $25,000 in attorney's fees. Responding to this theory would have required Taylor to demonstrate that she in fact gave Mungo appropriate legal advice before she signed the settlement agreement. Thus, there can be no argument that Taylor was somehow prejudiced by Mungo's last minute decision to emphasize a different theory of recovery.