Monetti, S.P.A., and Melform U.S.A., Inc. v. Anchor Hocking Corporation

POSNER, Circuit Judge.

This is a diversity suit for breach of contract; the parties agree that Illinois law governs the substantive issues. The district judge dismissed the suit, on the defendant’s motion for summary judgment, as barred by the statute of frauds, and also refused to allow the plaintiffs to amend their complaint to add a claim of promissory estoppel. The appeal, which challenges both rulings, presents difficult and important questions concerning both the general Illinois statute of frauds, Ill.Rev.Stat. ch. 59, U 1, and the statute of frauds in the Uniform Commercial Code, UCC §…