Phelps Dodge Corp. v. Schumacher Electric Corp.

POSNER, Circuit Judge.

Phelps Dodge brought this diversity suit (governed by Illinois law) against Schu-macher Electric Corporation to enforce a guaranty. The district judge awarded summary judgment to the plaintiff and $372,000 in damages. The facts were stipulated. Schumacher Electric, a family-owned corporation, manufactures battery-charging equipment and electrical transformers. A major input in the manufacture of these products is copper wire. In 1968, Albert Schumacher, the company’s principal, created Horning Wire Corporation to manufacture copper wire for his company — and also to…