Plaintiffs, Equipment Leasing Group of America LLC (ELGA) and CIBM Bank (CIBM), brought suit against Defendants Pure Midstream, LLC; Pure Aviation, LLC (WY); Pure Aviation, LLC (MT); Pure Aviation AP, LLC; and Carlo Domenic DiMarco, for an alleged breach of an Aircraft Financing Agreement (the AFA) and an Amended AFA.
Plaintiffs called Bob Rinaldi as an expert on industry standards in the field of equipment financing and leasing.
Defendants objected during trial to the relevance of his testimony to the ultimate legal question of whether the AFA’s “absolute and unconditional” clause requires payment of the entire balance.
Equipment Financing Expert Witness
Bob Rinaldi began his career in the equipment finance and leasing industry in or about 1984. In 2018, he founded Rinaldi Advisory Services. He has also been a member of and held various leadership positions in industry trade groups, including Equipment Leasing and Financing Association (ELFA) and National Equipment Finance Association (NEFA).
Discussion by the Court
Rinaldi testified that in the equipment leasing and financing industry, the term “absolute and unconditional” means, “essentially, your payments must be made no matter what.” He added that a contract provision “requiring the unconditional, the absolute and unconditional payment of the entire lease term” is “not only standard, it’s a requirement” in the equipment leasing and financing industry, because “the capital markets wouldn’t exist to finance these types of transactions if that didn’t exist.”
The Court did not rely on Rinaldi’s testimony to the extent he offered any opinion about what the AFA says or how it should be construed. But the Court may, to the extent that it reaches parol evidence, consider Rinaldi’s opinion that “absolute and unconditional” clauses are, in fact, customary in the equipment leasing and financing industry, and his opinion about how such terms are commonly understood.
Held
In sum, the Court overruled Defendants’ objection to Bob Rinaldi’s testimony.
Key Takeaway
While an expert is not permitted to offer his opinion on how, as a matter of law, a contract should be construed, it should be noted that expert testimony may be allowed when it addresses custom and practice in a particular trade as it relates to a contract dispute.
Case Details:
| Case Caption: | Equipment Leasing Group Of America LLC V. Pure Midstream |
| Docket Number: | 1:23cv16099 |
| Court Name: | United States District Court, Illinois Northern |
| Order Date: | May 01, 2026 |
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