Great Northern Insurance Company, et al v. Cellar Advisors, LLC

Filing 160

MEMORANDUM Opinion and Order: For the reasons stated in the accompanying Memorandum Opinion and Order, CA's Rule 26(a)(2) disclosure (Exhibit 24) is admissible into evidence as an admission by a party opponent. Although Exhibit 24 is admissible, CA is not bound to it, a point that I have already made clear when I ruled on Flagship's motion for summary judgment. See Order for further details. Signed by the Honorable James B. Zagel on 3/14/2016. Mailed notice(ep, )

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
NORTHERN DISTRICT OF ILLINOIS
EASTERN DIVISION
GREAT NORTHERN INSURANCE
COMPANY a/s/o GIDEON SEARLE and
NANCY S. SEARLE,
Plaintiffs,
v.

No. 12 C 9343

CELLAR ADVISORS, LLC,

Judge James B. Zagel

Defendant.
_____________________________________
CELLAR ADVISORS, LLC
Third-Party Plaintiff,
v.
SATARIA ACQUISITION LLC d/b/a
FLAGSHIP LOGISTICS GROUP,
Third-Party Defendant.
MEMORANDUM OPINION AND ORDER
On April 30, 2014, Flagship served its Fed. R. Civ. P. 26(a)(2) disclosure to Cellar
Advisors, LLC (“CA”) and Great Northern Insurance Company. As part of its disclosure,
Flagship identified Tom DiNardo as an expert witness and also identified the following Opinions
provided by Tom DiNardo:
1. Based upon my research and analysis, my extensive experience
in the appraisal of wine, and by applying the 2012-2013 Uniform
Standard of Professional Appraisal Practice (USPAP) Standards,
all of which are set forth at length in my Appraisal of the damaged
Gideon Searle wines report, I conclude to a reasonable degree of
certainty that the value of the wine bottles listed was

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$1,889,326.00 assuming that the list is accurate and that all bottles
are in very good condition.
2. Based upon my research and analysis, my personal inspection of
the actual wine bottles, my extensive experience in the appraisal of
wine, and by applying the 2012-2013 Uniform Standard of
Professional Appraisal Practice (USPAP) Standards, all of which
are set forth at length in my “Gideon Searle Wine Collection
Appraisal Report #2”, I conclude to a reasonable degree of
certainty that the current value of the wine bottles owned by Great
Northern Insurance Company located at Florida Freezer’s
warehouse in Fort Myers, Florida is $1,524,082.00.
3. Based upon my research and analysis, my personal inspection of
the actual wine bottles, my extensive experience in the appraisal of
wine, and by applying the 2012-2013 Uniform Standard of
Professional Appraisal Practice (USPAP) Standards, all of which
are set forth at length in my Wine Inventory Report and Scope of
Damage Evaluation and the Gideon Searle Wine Collection
Appraisal Report #2”, I conclude to a reasonable degree of
certainty that the small number of bottles showing heat damage
were not destroyed as a result of transportation of the whole
collection from Chicago, Illinois to Naples, Florida.
On June 2, 2014, after having the opportunity to read Mr. DiNardo’s expert report and review his
qualifications and after securing agreement from the parties to permit a late disclosure of expert
witnesses, CA served its own Fed. R. Civ. P. 26(a)(2) disclosure. CA’s Rule 26(a)(2) disclosure
identified Tom DiNardo as Cellar Advisors’ expert witness and expressly adopted the opinions
of Mr. DiNardo contained in his April 30, 2014 report. This matter is presently before the Court
because Flagship intends on introducing CA’s Rule 26(a)(2) disclosure into evidence as Exhibit
24, and CA objects on the basis that “this is not a proper exhibit.”
Rule 26(a)(2) disclosures are not typically introduced into evidence, but this is not a
typical case. CA began this litigation as a defendant and transformed into a plaintiff at some
point after it settled its dispute with Great Northern Insurance Company.
Here, CA’s Rule 26(a)(2) disclosure (Exhibit 24) is admissible into evidence as an

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admission by a party opponent. Although Exhibit 24 is admissible, CA is not bound to it, a point
that I have already made clear when I ruled on Flagship’s motion for summary judgment.
ENTER:

James B. Zagel
United States District Judge
DATE: March 14, 2016

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