The Long-Simmering Jim’s Cheesesteak Court Battle Finally Concludes
A judge just issued a final order in the oft-confusing case between two feuding steak shops.
Jim’s West owner Cortez Johnson in front of his West Philadelphia cheesesteak shop before it opened in 2023 and before Jim’s Steaks in Delco filed a lawsuit against him
It seems like forever ago that I first told you that Carl Proetto — the owner of the Jim’s Steaks in Delco and son of the guy who owned the original Jim’s Steaks location in West Philly — had filed for an emergency injunction demanding that the then-brand new Jim’s West on 62nd Street in West Philadelphia drop the “Jim’s” from its name. That was in September 2023.
At first, the whole thing seemed pretty cut and dry. Proetto and his brothers sold 431 North 62nd Street — where Jim’s Steaks opened way back in 1939 — to an LLC belonging to a guy named Cortez Johnson. And the deed for that transaction included a very clear clause stating that nobody could, for all eternity, operate any business at that address that included the word “Jim’s” in its name.
But at a court hearing on that emergency injunction, a second document turned up. That was a separate legal agreement between the Brothers Proetto and Johnson’s company. And that agreement contained a similar clause over the name. But the clause had an important distinction. The clause stated that Johnson couldn’t use the specific phrase “Jim’s Steaks.” And, as Johnson pointed out to the judge, his shop was called “Jim’s West.” Not “Jim’s Steaks.”
The Delco Jim’s Steaks in Springfield, which filed a lawsuit against the Jim’s West cheesesteak shop in West Philadelphia (image via Google Maps)
Hearing all of the evidence, the judge decided that there simply wasn’t enough evidence to rule in favor of Proetto. (Emergency injunctions require the filers to meet a very high bar.) But Proetto could still move forward with a lawsuit against Johnson.
“What just happened?” Johnson, who had no attorney at the hearing, asked me right after the proceeding ended. “You won,” I told him. And then I suggested he might want to consider getting an attorney. And that’s just what he did.
Proetto’s lawsuit against Johnson wound its way through Philadelphia’s Common Pleas Court. And last week, Judge Idee Fox ruled. She issued an order against Proetto’s claim that Johnson couldn’t use the name Jim’s in any way, shape or form.
Judge Fox pointed out that “Jim’s Steaks” is not trademarked. And she wrote that while Proetto testified that his Delco shop lost business as a result of Johnson opening Jim’s West, he provided no evidence of that. The judge also took note that Proetto has no issue with the Jim’s Steaks on South Street, because, as he testified, it was owned by a friend of his father’s. Proetto also testified that he suffered emotional distress when he saw an armed guard outside of Jim’s West on the news. But Fox said no dice on that claim.
An armed security guard in front of Jim’s West cheesesteak shop in West Philadelphia in 2023
“Although this court understands Plaintiff’s emotional attachment to a business started by his father,” Fox wrote in her order, “emotional damages cannot be recovered [in this case].”
Fox also threw out Johnson’s counterclaim against Proetto. Johnson had claimed that Proetto defamed and slandered him by allegedly lying about the nature of their agreement.
“I just wanna say that my lawyer Alex Palmer fought hard for this win,” Johnson tells me. “And we’re pleased with the ruling from the judge. We can now move on!”
Proetto’s attorney could not be reached for comment.
So it sounds like this is the end of this particular Philadelphia cheesesteak war. But don’t worry: there’s usually another one just around the corner.
