Exhibit
5.1
[Letterhead
of McDermott Will & Emery LLP]
March 30,
2010
Patrick
Industries, Inc.
107 West
Franklin Street
Elkhart,
Indiana 46515
Re: 2009
Omnibus Incentive Plan
Ladies
and Gentlemen:
We have
acted as counsel for Patrick Industries, Inc. (the “Company”) in connection with
the preparation and filing of a Registration Statement on Form S-8 (the
“Registration Statement”) for the registration under the Securities Act of 1933,
as amended, of 750,000 shares of the Company’s Common Stock, without par value
(the “Common Stock”), which may be issued pursuant to the Plan, together with
750,000 Preferred Share Purchase Rights which are currently attached to, and
trade with, the Common Stock.
We have
examined or considered:
1.
|
A
copy of resolutions duly adopted by the Board of Directors of the Company
relating to the Plan; and
|
In
addition to the examination outlined above, we have conferred with various
officers of the Company and have ascertained or verified, to our satisfaction,
such additional facts as we deemed necessary or appropriate for the purposes of
this opinion.
Based on
the foregoing, we are of the opinion that all legal and corporate proceedings
necessary for the authorization, issuance and delivery of the shares of Common
Stock under the Plan have been duly taken, and the related Common Stock, upon
acquisition pursuant to the terms of the Plan, and the related Preferred Share
Purchase Rights, will be duly authorized, legally and validly issued, fully paid
and nonassessable.
We are
admitted to the Bar in the state of Illinois. We express no opinion as to the
laws of any jurisdiction other than (i) the Indiana Business Corporation
Law, (ii) the laws of the state of Illinois, and (iii) the federal laws of
the United States which in each case in our experience are generally applicable
to transactions of this type.
We hereby
consent to all references to our Firm in the Registration Statement and to the
filing of this opinion by the Company as an Exhibit to the Registration
Statement.
Very
truly yours,
/s/
McDermott Will & Emery LLP