Elting v. Elting

The Elting family farm partnership agreement required majority approval of its four managing partners before any one could act on its behalf, but Kerwin (defendant) signed a series of risky focal point contracts adjusting the partnership's Cargill corn hedge without the other partners' actual knowledge, causing over $2 million in losses on later contracts after early profits; Perry and his family (plaintiffs) testified they only discovered the contracts when the bank noticed inconsistent financial projections between the two brothers after the partnership later split, and the trial court credited their account over Kerwin's claim that he had discussed the contracts beforehand, awarding Perry's family over $1 million.