...O'Hara Business Law 241 Lucy v. Zehmer 196 Va. 493, 84 S.E.2d 516, Web 1954 Va. Lexis 224 (Supreme Court of Virginia) A.H. Zehmer and Ida Zehmer, husband and wife and defendants, were drinking with W.O. Lucy and J.C. Lucy, husband and wife and plaintiffs, when A. Zehmer wrote and signed a contract to sell his 471 acre farm for $50,000 to the plaintiffs. He compelled his wife to sign the contract by telling her it was a joke intended to get the plaintiff to admit to a lack of funds. The plaintiffs believed it was a valid contract and attempted to finalize the transaction at which time the defendants denied the validity of the contract stating that Mr. Zehmer was drunk at the time the contract was created and that it was created as a joke. The plaintiffs brought suit for specific performance when the defendants refused to complete the transaction. Issue Is the contract enforceable? Rule When determining the validity of an offer the words and actions of the offeror are interpreted in accordance with a reasonable persons standards. “The law judges of an agreement between two persons exclusively from those expressions with their intentions which are communicated between them.” (Lucy v. Zehmer) Application “A person cannot set up that he was merely jesting when his conduct and words would warrant a reasonable person in believing that he intended an agreement” (Lucy v. Zehmer) Regardless of the defendants defense that he entered into the contract in question while...
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...OTIS F. WOOD v. LUCY, LADY DUFF-GORDON, 222 N.Y. 88; 118 N.E. 214; 1917 N.Y. LEXIS 818 Fact: Lady Duff-Gordon was a fashion guru and hired Wood’s agency to have the exclusive right to her endorsement and fashion design. Lady Duff-Gordon was to handle business for Wood and in return, Lady Duff-Gordon was to receive one half of all the income. Lady Duff-Gordon placed her endorsement on fabrics without the knowledge of Wood and withheld the profits from those fabrics. Issue: Whether the contract lacks mutuality? It does not expressly bind or require the Plaintiff to actually place endorsements or market defendant’s designs. Rule: Phoenix Hermetic Co. v. Filtrate Mfg. Co., 164 App. Div. 424; the acceptance of the exclusive agency was an assumption of its duties Analysis: The circumstances supported a promise by implication that Wood would use reasonable efforts to place the endorsements and market the designs. Unless he gave his efforts neither party would gain anything from the contract. Additionally, the one-half profit arrangement was a promise to use all of his efforts in order that the contract would have value to Wood. Justice Cardozo looks to the exclusive privilege given to Wood and that acceptance thereof was an assumption of the duties to place and market the designs. With Wood’s implied efforts to assume those duties, neither party could effectively make money. Therefore, the court held it was clear from the terms and recitals and duties under the contract...
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...Questionnaire for Case Brief Lucy v. Zehmer, 196 Va. 493, 84 S.E.2d 516 (1954) Group 2: Cameron Garner, Jay Bangerter 2. Have all of you found your case on LexisNexis and read it? I couldn’t find the case on LexisNexis nor could I find the right site, however, I did find the full case on Wikipedia and have read all of that case. 3. What are the most important facts of the case? The most important facts of the case are whether a contract can be voided because it was not the intent of the contractor to do what was written. In this case the Owner (Zehmer) states that he and his wife were only playing a joke and had no intent to sell the property/farm and they then think that this makes the contract that was written up and signed by the plaintiffs, (Lucy), is null and void because it was not his real intention to sell the farm. 4. What has happened procedurally in this case so far? (For example, what happened in the original trial court? Who appealed? What court did the appeal go to? Did a lower appeals court already make a decision in this case, and is the case now being appealed to a higher appeals court? Which appeals court decided the case you read?) In the original trial court or the lower courts, the ruling was that the contract was not legitimate and was given to the defendants (Zehmer). Lucy then appealed to the Supreme Court of Virginia or the State Supreme Court. The Virginia Supreme court then decided and ruled in the favor of the plaintiff...
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...Acknowledgement I would like to express my gratitude to all those who helped me to complete this report. I am deeply thanks to the support from Mr. Rashani Meegama whose helps me to get information and knowledge that needed to make this work successful. I am also grateful to all my fellow mates who supported in the success of this assignment in providing necessary details. I would also like to thank my mom, whose support was very important in achieving the glory and success of this assignment. Executive Summary In this report it states that all aspect of contract and negligence of for business. Some of main aspects of contracts where further elaborated and discussed for the convenient of the viewer, some of those questions are definition of a contract, what a valid offer is, what postal rule is and so on. On the other hand this report it discuss the parameters of contract and all relevant topics underneath are covered by proposing solid analysis and evaluation have been made. Furthermore it discussed about the different scenarios and all those scenarios were discussed and evaluated according to law concept. Followings are some of the important solving’s in this report and all are solved according to the law of contract and had been used all the concepts which is appropriated for each case. After the brief answering to theoretical questions about contract law, the author had to short out a case about a lost dog, the scenario was Paul offered Rs 50000 for anyone who finds...
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...Quasi Contract | Court imposes contract on parties through an equitable remedy to prevent unjust enrichment of one party at the expense of the other. NOT AVAILABLE IF CONTRACT EXISTS. | Wagner v. Columbia | Columbia signed contract to give 50% of earnings from Charlies Angels tv series to Wagner. Later bought movie rights but didn’t give 50%. Court does not need to consider extrinsic evidence. Plain meaning rule. Wagner not entitled to remaining 50% | Lucy v Zehmer | Zehmer sold Lucy his farm through a contract written on a napkin while drunk. He claimed he wasn’t serious. Court used reasonable person standard to conclude that the contract was valid. | Six Flags Case | Customer filed personal injury suit against Six Flags. Six Flags wanted insurance company to defend them in court even though there was no contract. Court ruled that the preliminary negotiations showed intent to be bound. | Basic Tech vs Amazon | Messages between Amazon and BT demonstrated that parties agreed on all essential terms of the contract and that no disputes remained unresolved so ruled in favor of BT | **When does the revocation/termination of an offer become effective? | UPON RECEIPT | **Unenforceable Contracts | Contract exists but cannot be enforced due to a legal defense | Mailbox Rule | If offeree sends acceptance in slower communication than specified, offeror may treat acceptance as invald. | | | | | | | Compensatory Damages | Cover direct losses and costs (return to...
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...to take specific action, be among the first three customers in line in order to qualify to purchase the coat. One reason why newspaper ads are considered invitations to negotiate is that a merchant cannot possibly have sufficient goods to supply all person who might see the ad with the item in question. Since the number of coats available are specified at 3, overacceptance is not at issue. A unilateral contract was formed when Marsha was first in line and offered payment for the coat. This case problem was developed from the classic case of Lefkowitz v. Great Minneapolis Surplus Store, 86 N.W.2d 689 (Minn. 1957). 2. The parties clearly intended to contract and a contract can be evidenced by papers grouped together; it need not all be on one form. “ACCEPTANCE ON REVERSE SIDE” does not convey a mandatory condition, but rather only a convenient method for acceptance. The letter accomplishes the same purpose. [Overman v. Brown, 372 N.W.2d 102 (Neb.)] 3. No. A revocation is not effective until it is communicated to the offeree. In the case of a mailed revocation, this requires actual receipt by the offeree of the revoking letter. Unlike a letter of acceptance, the letter of revocations is not effective when mailed. 4. Judgment for Baker. When Nelson made changes to Baker’s offer, his action had the effect of rejecting the offer and proposing a counteroffer to Baker, even though Nelson purported to be accepting the original offer. Baker was not willing to buy under...
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...Course Description and Learning Objectives Every business decision has legal overtones and most business will be involved in some sort of legal action at some point in their progression. The goal of this course is to discuss issues faced by emerging businesses against the background of what the law can and cannot do. As each semester some new scandal or issue makes the press, we will use current events as a springboard for the topics covered in this course, and I invite you to bring your personal experiences into the classroom discussion. Course Requirements and Classroom Approach The class will be run as an interactive lecture. It is absolutely essential that all required readings are completed prior to class. We will have some flexibility (within reason) to tailor this class to real life experiences each of you may encounter or to certain areas that are of particular interest to this class. There is a lot of reading – I strongly recommend you take notes. Attendance is absolutely essential (and is 25% of your grade). We have a lot to cover and a short time to cover it. While the textbook is the primary source, there are supplemental readings and topics that will come up in class, including current events, which may well find their way into an exam. If you cannot attend, it is your obligation to ensure that you borrow someone’s notes so that you do not miss anything. Blackboard, e-mail and Lexis/Nexis Supplemental readings will usually be posted...
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...as it is accepted by the person to whom it is addressed", the "offeree".[1] An offer is a statement of the terms on which the offeror is willing to be bound. It is the present contractual intent to be bound by a contract with definite and certain terms communicated to the offeree. The expression of an offer may take different forms, such as a letter, newspaper advertisement, fax, email and even conduct, as long as it communicates the basis on which the offeror is prepared to contract. Whether the two parties have reached agreement on the terms or whether a valid offer has been made is an issue which is determined by the courts using criteria known as 'the objective test' which was explained in the leading English case of Smith v. Hughes.[2] In Smith v. Hughes, the court emphasised that the important thing in determining whether there has been a valid offer is not the party's own (subjective) intentions, but how a reasonable person would view the situation. Unless the offer included the...
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...body of norms and rules – Private law: governs transnational Relationships of Private Persons ( International transaction Law) e.g. the law of international sales, trade finance, licensing agreement etc. – Public law: laws that make up the legal framework within which international business takes place. e.g. the treaties of EU, GATT agreement, NAFTA (b) the scope of ITL（调整范围） Trade in goods, Trade in service，Trade in technology,other international business field Part III History of International Trade Law • Customs and usages Law • Decentralization Unification Part IV: Comparison of ITL and In. Business Law (a ) the same origin the commercial usages (b) The different content Part V. Sources of In. Trade Law (a ) International Treaties and Conventions (b) International Trade Usages (c) Domestic Law (d) International Model Law(国际示范法) The Law of Treaties Treaties are binding...
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...Contracts I Outline – go through mind map list the 4 big issues, each para under the issues can include subissues, can say it might not be an issue later ------------------------------------------------- Bern’s Model: TMJM ------------------------------------------------- Tsedeq- righteous moral standard ------------------------------------------------- Misphat- applied even handedly ------------------------------------------------- Jurisdiction- by one authority ------------------------------------------------- cannot force to love ------------------------------------------------- civil government has jurisdiction over evil-doer ------------------------------------------------- can use Israel example ------------------------------------------------- Meshar- producing evenness in outcomes in like cases ------------------------------------------------- "Together the three express the thought of the evenhanded and impartial application (mishpat) of a righteous moral standard (tseden) producing an evenness or equality (meshar) in outcomes in like cases." ------------------------------------------------- God has jurisdiction over all as creator. ------------------------------------------------- Man is made in the image of God and can contract based on language and promise ability. ------------------------------------------------- A person has reason to expect that a person made in the image of God should keep his promises. I. Bases for Enforcing Promises-Theories...
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...Consideration as Benefit or Detriment 21–32 * Appeal of Clark * Court defines consideration via benefit-detriment analysis * Court allows individuals to place a value on services, the court has no right to limit the values a contracting individual puts on the services they receive * Dougherty v. Salt * In order for there to be consideration, both parties must understand that a bargain has happened (a child cannot understand a bargain) * Why is consideration required * Hamer v. Sidway I * Gratuitous transfer (i.e. to give someone something) is not consideration * Consideration must be something of value (a benefit for a detriment trade-off) * Hamer v. Sidway II * Forbearance from a legal right (drinking, smoking, pressing charges) can be consideration because it counts as the detriment element of consideration * Consideration to enforce a K “consists of a right/profit/benefit accursing to the one party, or some forbearance/detriment/cost by the other party” * The benefit elements does not have to be pecuniary * Consideration as Bargain 33–48 * Baehr v. Penn-O-Tex Oil Corporation * Consideration must be the product of a bargain * Forbearance from a legal right is not consideration...
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