Federal appellate courts are loathe to address arguments not preserved in the district court. The Seventh Circuit is no different. That position was personified today in the Seventh Circuit’s opinion in Sunny Handicraft v. Envision This!, No. 21-1579. Judge Frank Easterbrook, writing for the Court, refused to consider an issue the defendant never put before the jury, proposed jury instructions on, or sought a special verdict for. Not until its post trial motion did the defendant raise the point. The district court treated the matter as forfeited, and the Seventh Circuit affirmed. Judge Easterbrook put it plainly: “A litigant cannot wait until the trial is over and cry ‘Gotcha!'” Sage advice for attorneys caught in the throes of trial preparation.