Opinion
No. 01 C 9843
September 25, 2002
MEMORANDUM OPINION
The court had under advisement the motions of plaintiff-counterclaim defendant, Sears, Roebuck Co. to dismiss Counts IV and V of the counterclaim of defendant Menard, Inc. and to strike certain affirmative defenses in Menard's answer to the complaint.
Sears had also moved to dismiss Count VII of the counterclaim, which alleged abuse of process, but Menard has voluntarily dismissed that claim, See Order of September 18, 2002.
The parties have briefed these motions, citing numerous authorities, and the court could spend considerable time digesting the authorities and making appropriate rulings. We believe this would not be a productive use of judicial resources. The issues raised by the motions can be dealt with appropriately at trial, in the event there is a trial. At the motion call of September 18, we were advised that settlement is still a possibility, with only one issue — admittedly an important one — still separating the parties.
Should there be a trial, the evidence will be the same whether these affirmative defenses and counterclaims are still on file or not. We will deny the motions at this time, without prejudice to their renewal at trial.
Opening statements to the jury will be limited to what the evidence is expected to be, and there will be no need to discuss legal theories The court will explain to the jury enough about the law so that the jurors will understand the relevance of the evidence.