Spec-Cast, Inc. v. First National Bank & Trust Co.

Plaintiff, Spec-Cast, Inc., appeals from a decision of a Winnebago County trial court which found the defendant, First National Bank and Trust Company of Rockford, not liable for paying a check from plaintiff to Richard’s Auto Sales which was missing the drawer’s signature. Plaintiff argues in his appeal that section 3 — 401 of the Uniform Commercial Code (Ill. Rev. Stat. 1985, ch. 26, par. 3 — 401) displaces the common law and that the trial court’s decision finding ratification of the bank’s action was against the manifest weight of the evidence.

In February 1983, William Jackson, president…