Fuller Family Holdings, LLC v. The Northern Trust Company

              SECOND DIVISION
FILED: February 13, 2007
No. 1-06-1533
FULLER FAMILY HOLDINGS, LLC,
Plaintiff-Appellant,
v.
THE NORTHERN TRUST COMPANY,
Defendant-Appellee.
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APPEAL FROM THE CIRCUIT
COURT OF COOK COUNTY
No. 04 L 014582
HONORABLE
MARTIN S. AGRAN,
RANDYE A. KOGAN,
JUDGES PRESIDING.
JUSTICE HOFFMAN delivered the opinion of the court:
The plaintiff, Fuller Family Holdings, LLC, (Fuller Holdings), as successor in interest to the
William A. Fuller Indenture of Trust (Fuller Trust or the trust), appeals the dismissal of its action
against the defendant, The Northern Trust Company (Northern), asserting claims for (1) breach of
fiduciary duty, and (2) spoliation of evidence. For the reasons that follow, we reverse and remand
for further proceedings.
The allegations in the corrected complaint, the affidavit in support of the motion to dismiss,
and their attached exhibits reveal the following relevant facts, which we must accept as true in
reviewing the circuit court's dismissal pursuant to section 2-619 of the Code of Civil Procedure (the
Code) (735 ILCS 5/2-619 (West 2004)).
On February 28, 1918, William A. Fuller created the Fuller Trust and named Northern as
trustee. Northern acted as trustee of the Fuller Trust from 1918 until 2002. The primary asset of the
trust was a parcel of real property located at 30 North LaSalle Street in Chicago, Illinois, known as
the Fuller Parcel.