Opinion ID: 620041
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Heindl's Letter

Text: The Trust's first two issues of material fact implicate the district court's finding that the Trust and LINA executed a binding contract. Under Illinois state law, an enforceable contract requires an offer, acceptance, consideration, and mutual assent. Voelker v. Porsche Cars N. Am., Inc., 353 F.3d 516, 528 (7th Cir.2003); Acad. Chicago Publishers v. Cheever, 144 Ill.2d 24, 161 Ill.Dec. 335, 578 N.E.2d 981, 984 (1991) (describing mutual assent as the point when the contracting parties have a meeting of the minds). In assessing whether contracting parties have mutually assented to a contract, Illinois courts have long cautioned that the parties' subjective intentions are irrelevant. E.g., Steinberg v. Chicago Med. Sch., 69 Ill.2d 320, 13 Ill.Dec. 699, 371 N.E.2d 634, 640 (1977). Rather, courts must evaluate mutual assent based on the objective conduct of the parties. Laserage Tech. Corp. v. Laserage Labs., Inc., 972 F.2d 799, 802 (7th Cir. 1992) (stating the parties' [s]ecret hopes and wishes count for nothing because the status of a document as a contract depends on what the parties express to each other and to the world, not on what they keep to themselves. (quotation marks omitted)). Although the issue of whether a contract existed is usually one for the factfinder, Prignano v. Prignano, 405 Ill.App.3d 801, 343 Ill.Dec. 89, 934 N.E.2d 89, 100 (2010), Illinois courts have used summary judgment to find an enforceable contract when its existence was clear and free from doubt, Hedlund & Hanley, LLC v. Bd. of Trs. of Cmty. Coll. Dist. No. 508, 376 Ill.App.3d 200, 315 Ill.Dec. 1, 876 N.E.2d 1, 5 (2007); see also Echo, Inc. v. Whitson Co., 121 F.3d 1099, 1102 (7th Cir.1997) (finding that [u]nder Illinois law, when the basic facts are not in dispute, the existence of a contract is a question of law.). Here, the Trust argues that Heindl's August 2004 letter suggesting there had been no meeting of the minds constitutes an admission that mutual assent was absent. This evidence, the Trust asserts, is an admission of a fact which goes to the heart of the ultimate issue, and a jury should have an opportunity to evaluate whether Heindl conceded that a contract between the two parties never existed. Without mutual assent, the Trust argues, a valid contract was never executed. The Trust's argument is without merit. First, it fails to identify the portions of Heindl's letter that expressly recognized the existence of a contract. For example, Heindl opens the letter by calling attention to the outstanding issues related to the issued group life policy. Additionally, Heindl's closing remarks give notice to the Trust that LINA is terminating the group policy effective September 30, 2004. LINA's contractual right to terminate the policy presupposes that an enforceable policy existed in the first place. Instead of focusing on the portions of Heindl's letter that clearly suggest the existence of an enforceable contract, the Trust hangs its hat on Heindl's characterization that there had never been a meeting of the minds. But, the Trust runs head-first into the longstanding principles of contract law that require courts to evaluate the objective conduct of the parties. Heindl's post-hoc assessment of a contract signed eleven months earlier provides no objective evidence of the parties' intentions at the time the contract was signed. Admittedly, Heindl's word choice was unfortunate given how Illinois courts have described mutual assent, but this phrase standing alone does not prove the Trust's contention that a contract never existed. On a motion for summary judgment, LINA satisfied its burden that the parties mutually assented to the group life policy by providing objective evidence that: (1) the Trust's chairman signed copies of the group insurance application and the subscription agreements; (2) the Trust made nine consecutive premium payments without objecting to the policy's terms; and (3) LINA continued to provide group life coverage until September 30, 2004.