Kalmich v. Bruno
United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit
553 F.2d 549 (1977)
- Written by Salina Kennedy, JD
Facts
Hayim Kalmich (plaintiff), a Jewish businessman, owned a textile manufacturing business in Yugoslavia. After the Nazis conquered and occupied Yugoslavia in 1941, Kalmich’s business was seized and Karl Bruno (defendant) was installed as its manager. Bruno later purchased the business from the occupying government at a substantially reduced price and resold it to a third party. Prior to the end of World War II, Bruno fled Yugoslavia. After the war, Kalmich spent significant time and money in an unsuccessful attempt to find Bruno. In 1972, Kalmich, by then a Canadian resident, learned that Bruno was living in Chicago, Illinois. Kalmich sued Bruno in federal district court for damages related to the seizure of his business. The district court dismissed the complaint for failing to state a cause of action because the Illinois statute of limitations had run. Kalmich then sought reversal in the United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit. The Seventh Circuit held that the substantive law of Yugoslavia applied in this case, and it then considered whether to apply Yugoslavia’s perpetual statute of limitations or Illinois’s five-year statute of limitations.
Rule of Law
Issue
Holding and Reasoning (Pell, J.)
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