Remedies
This first-choice remedy puts the non-breacher in the same position they would have been if the other party had proceeded as agreed.
A: What is expectation damages?
This jurisdiction (and those who follow its rule) generally does not allow evidence of an oral agreement to modify a complete contract
What is New York?
A contract agreed to in the absence of meaningful choice and that no one can understand is typically this.
What is unconscionable?
This party is generally liable for a failure of an index.
What is the seller?
If the promisee doesn’t provide this, there’s no contract. Luckily, it can be almost anything.
What is consideration?
To be enforceable, these have to be both a reasonable estimation of likely damages and close to the actual damages suffered.
What are liquidated damage clauses?
Even in the jurisdictions where merger clauses keep out extrinsic evidence, evidence of this is allowed
What is fraud?
If a party has no reasonable alternative other than to agree, they can claim this.
What is duress?
Perfect tender is required for goods. This is required for services.
A: What is substantial performance?
This doctrine allows workers to get paid for work they do, even if they breach the contract before completion.
A: What is quantum meruit?
Schectman paid $275,000 and agreed to grade the land in exchange for ownership of some structures. When he didn’t grade the land, the court awarded this.
This decision determined that “sumptuous living” was not a legally enforceable standard.
What is Trimmer v. Van Bomel?
This famous case established that a mutual mistake of present material fact allowed voiding a contract.
What is Sherwood v. Walker?
In Blood v. Falstaff Brewing Corp, this encouraging-sounding provision paid off. Often, it’s not enforceable.
What is a “best efforts” clause?
A would-be buyer who breached the contract is liable to this kind of party, even though they resold the goods for the same price.
A: What is a lost volume seller?
A rare case where specific performance was required because of the car’s unique upgrades
What is Sedmak v. Charlie’s Chevrolet?
This case excluded evidence of an oral agreement in large part because there seemed to be only one price, so it looked like just one contract was made
What is Mitchill v. Lath?
This case established that you can’t sue the shipping company for lost profits if they don’t know what your lost profits are going to be.
What is Hadley v. Baxendale?
This case didn’t provide much of a remedy required parties with a preliminary agreement to negotiate in good faith.
What is Brown v. Cara?
Someone who has reasonably and substantially relied on a preliminary agreement can sue under this doctrine.
A: What is promissory estoppel?
In this case, a subcontractor received more under the damage award than they would have under the contract because they were able to sue under the legal posture that the contract never existed.
What is United States Use of Susi Contracting Co. v. Zara Contracting Co.?
According to this CA-style decision, not even a merger clause can keep extrinsic evidence out when one party claims the contract is ambiguous.
What is Columbia Nitrogen Corp. v. Royster Co.?
This case decided that paid surrogacy was contrary to public policy, and so any surrogate contract was unenforceable.
What is In re Baby M?
This case established that a promise to use “reasonable efforts” could be implied from the contract.
What is Wood v. Lucy, Lady Duff-Gordon?
This fiery case established that every sale consists of two parts: the good/service, and the insurance.
A: What is Taylor v. Caldwell?