Casebriefs » Contracts

Warranties

admin — Sat, 19 Sep 2009 20:28:27 +0000

Performance

admin — Sat, 19 Sep 2009 20:27:51 +0000

Offer Acceptance

admin — Sat, 19 Sep 2009 20:27:21 +0000

Defenses

admin — Sat, 19 Sep 2009 20:25:27 +0000

Consideration

admin — Sat, 19 Sep 2009 20:25:06 +0000

Arbitration

admin — Sat, 19 Sep 2009 20:24:44 +0000

Contracts Questions & Answers

admin — Wed, 02 Sep 2009 03:29:57 +0000

1) Patricia’s employer fired her after only three months in the job, in breach of a twelve-month employment contract. Patricia is entitled to recover as damages

A. her salary for twelve months.
B. her salary for nine months.
C. her salary for nine months, less what she could have earned in another job had she made reasonable efforts to find another suitable job.
D. nothing, because employment contracts must provide for liquidated damages.

CONTRACTS ESSAY EXAMINATION #4

admin — Wed, 02 Sep 2009 03:29:54 +0000

THE SLEAZE FACTOR UNCHAINED
Once the 1996 election was over, Bill and Hillary Clinton could abandon the thin veneer of devotion to the public good that they had assumed during the campaign. With their power secure, they felt free to return to the shameless advancement of their own interests and that of their close friends. Bill, of course, had enjoyed running for President much more than he enjoyed being President. Accordingly, he effectively delegated the task of running the country to Hillary, who was more qualified for the job anyway. This enabled Bill to pursue a variety of purely private projects.3

Much of Bill’s time was devoted to a private, non-profit charitable foundation (of which he was chairman) set up to assist the numerous friends, aides and associates of the Clintons who had been indicted in recent years. The foundation was called “Felons Relying Exclusively on Elvis,”4 or “F.R.E.E.” for short. Bill was the principal fund-raiser for the foundation and, in that capacity, made numerous calls and visits to potential contributors. One of his most important phone calls was made to a wealthy industrialist, I.M. Fatcatt. Bill called Fatcatt on December 15 and launched into his standard pitch.

“Good morning, Sir,” said Bill. “I’m Bill Clinton, as seen on T.V. Perhaps you saw my debate. This morning I am asking you to contribute to F.R.E.E., an organization devoted to helping poor unfortunate victims of prosecutorial overzealousness. Sir, many of these people are being persecuted-even threatened with jail-for no better reason

3 I.e., you are to assume that, in all of the negotiations and transactions that follow, Bill is acting as a private citizen, not as a representative of the government of the United States.

CONTRACTS ESSAY EXAMINATION #5

admin — Wed, 02 Sep 2009 03:29:54 +0000

FACTS
Old McDonald had a farm. And on this farm McDonald grew crops and raised the usual variety of merry critters. But McDonald was sick of work that made his back sore and decided to become a land speculator like everyone else. Fortunately for McDonald, his land was located just outside the city limits of New Babylon, the largest city in the State of Disarray. Because of New Babylon’s rapid growth in recent years, the McDonald farm was a prime prospect for real estate development. A simple ad McDonald placed in a local paper generated literally dozens of inquiries from parties interested in buying the farm. After negotiating by telephone with a number of developers of apartments, condominiums, single family homes, and shopping centers, McDonald came to the realization that, if you put twenty real estate developers in a room, they would be unlikely to have twenty dollars cash between them. So McDonald decided to enter more serious negotiations with the city of New Babylon, which had plentyof cash as a result of its 10% sales tax on nearly everything. McDonald guessed that his land was worth at least $400,000, so he decided he might as well ask the city (whose officials were known for their gullibility) for $500,000. On June 1, he hand-delivered a letter to the city of New Babylon in which he offered to sell his farm for $500,000 cash. The letter contained a proper legal description of the farm, and it specified a closing date of July 1 for payment of the price and delivery of a deed. It also contained the following paragraph: “This here is a real good deal, so I ain’t lowering my price and I ain’t holding the offer open long. In fact, you must accept by June 10 or this offer expires.”

On June 3, the city council of New Babylon met in emergency session and approved the purchase of the McDonald farm on the terms stated in McDonald’s letter. As authorized by the Council, the Mayor of New Babylon, Karl Klutz, prepared a letter accepting McDonald’s offer. Given Klutz’ usual ruthless bureaucratic efficiency, it took several days to get the letter in final form. However, on June 8, Klutz deposited the letter at the New Babylon Post Office, paid the postal clerk the proper postage, and instructed the clerk to send the letter by certified mail, return receipt requested. The letter arrived at McDonald’s farm on June 10, and the letter carrier obtained a written receipt for it from McDonald. This receipt was then returned to Klutz.

Before the letter arrived, however, McDonald had been a busy little bumpkin. Back on June 7, he had been contacted by Danny DiOxin, the President of the Glowing Ooze Toxic Waste Disposal Company. DiOxin, a rather flamboyant character, was interested in buying the McDonald farm for use as a waste disposal site, and, in casual conversations with McDonald, he kept saying things like, “Yep. This looks like a great place to dump a lot of sludge.” and “Looks like this place is worth somewhere in seven figures.” With visions of (slightly radioactive) dollars dancing in his brain, McDonald concluded his prospects for a deal were better with DiOxin than with the city of New Babylon. Though McDonald and DiOxin had not yet reached a final agreement, on June 9, McDonald sent a telegram to the city, which read as follows: “Offer to sell land is hereby revoked. Have found better deal. I’m going to be the trash king.” This telegram arrived at Mayor Klutz’ office on the afternoon of June 9. When the city’s acceptance letter arrived at McDonald farm the next day, he threw it in a drawer, called Klutz and told the Mayor, “Stop kidding yourself. You have no deal.”

CONTRACTS ESSAY EXAMINATION #2

admin — Wed, 02 Sep 2009 03:29:53 +0000

FACTS: THE HEIR TO THE THRONE
Imagine, if you will, that it is now 1999 and you do not know how the 2000 Presidential Election will turn out. George W. Bush (”George W”), is still just the son of the former President and now a candidate for the Presidency in his own right. George W has been seeking the Republican nomination for President for months, and he has distinguished himself primarily as a campaign fundraiser. His only drawback, of course, is that he is utterly without knowledge of, or experience in, national or international politics. The latter fact was made painfully obvious in a recent press conference, in which George W was unable, in response to reporters’ questions, to name the leader of any foreign nation, any of the Justices of the Supreme Court of the United States, or any of the planets in our solar system. George W’s advisers suggested to him that his education might be somewhat deficient and further suggested he take a crash course in national and international affairs.

George W went to his father, former President Bush, for advice, and the elder Bush suggested that George W enlist the aid of Henry Kissinger, the somewhat aged but well-respected former Secretary of State from the Nixon administration. George W telephoned Kissinger on October 1, 1999, and the conversation proceeded as follows:
Kissinger: Henry Kissinger, adviser to persons of greatness, at your service.
George W: Hank, you old sea dog. This is George W. Can I call you Hank? How are you?
Kissinger: I hate it when people call me Hank.
George W: Right you are, Hank. Listen, Hank. I have a problem. Some people seem to think I’m an intellectual lightweight and an ignoramus on policy matters.
Kissinger: Let’s just say that Dan Quayle has never looked wiser or more erudite.
George W: Ha ha. That’s a good one Hank. Listen, here’s the deal. I need a tutor. All these foreign countries and foreign leaders have such funny names. It’s now October 1, and, if I’m going to win the nomination and the Presidency and take office in January of 2001, I’m going to need constant tutoring from now through December 2000. That’s a full fifteen months. If you will give me one two-hour tutorial per week over the next 15 months, I’ll pay you $5,000 a month. I’ll even come to you, so you don’t have to travel or incur any expenses. I’ve got more corporate jets at my disposal than the Air Force has fighter planes, and I can go wherever I want whenever I want. We could have the sessions early on Monday mornings-say at
11:00 A.M.
Kissinger: What if you don’t win the nomination? What if you drop out of the race early? Will I be left without a job?
George W: No way, Hank. You don’t understand. I’m offering you a guaranteed job as my tutor in national and international affairs for an absolute minimum of fifteen months. No more, no less. You’ll get a paycheck at the end of each month. And it only requires two hours a week. You can do anything else you want for the rest of each week. But I want you to commit now for the full fifteen months so I don’t have to worry about this any more. So what do you say? You can start this week.