Ladue Trails, LLC v. Ladue Restaurant & Bar Co., March 2005 $43,559 Unanimous Verdict

Sevastianos represented the plaintiff, a landlord of a shopping center in Ladue, Missouri. The client leased commercial space to a corporate tenant in St. Louis County, and had the owners of the business sign personal guarantees securing the financial obligations of the corporate tenant under the lease. The case was tried against two personal guarantors, one of which disputed the amount of the landlord's debt, and the other of which claimed he never signed the particular guarantee. Neither defendant's guarantee was notarized, and both original guarantees had been lost by the plaintiff.

At trial, the second defendant argued that the mark on the subject guarantee was not his. He testified that he never signed the document, never promised to secure the company's debt and that he was only a minor, passive investor in the company with no incentive to personally secure a large corporate obligation.

The plaintiff offered differing testimony at trial through a corporate representative who testified that the personal guarantee had been signed in front of her at her office, at her request. Although she could not explain the missing original documents, she could and did specifically outline the financial losses the plaintiff incurred.

A jury returned a unanimous verdict against the two defendants awarding the landlord every cent it claimed it was owed under the subject lease.