Lesson 9: Contract Law
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Defendant-Sided Unjust Factors
This is a repository copy of Defendant-Sided Unjust Factors. White Rose Research Online URL for this paper: http://eprints.whiterose.ac.uk/95432/ Version: Accepted Version Article: Sheehan, D orcid.org/0000-0001-9605-0667 (2016) Defendant-Sided Unjust Factors. Legal Studies, 36 (3). pp. 415-437. ISSN 0261-3875 https://doi.org/10.1111/lest.12115 © 2016, The Society of Legal Scholars. This is the peer reviewed version of the following article: Sheehan, D. (2016) Defendant-sided unjust factors. Legal Studies, 36: 415–437, which has been published in final form at http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/lest.12115. This article may be used for non-commercial purposes in accordance with Wiley Terms and Conditions for Self-Archiving. Reuse Items deposited in White Rose Research Online are protected by copyright, with all rights reserved unless indicated otherwise. They may be downloaded and/or printed for private study, or other acts as permitted by national copyright laws. The publisher or other rights holders may allow further reproduction and re-use of the full text version. This is indicated by the licence information on the White Rose Research Online record for the item. Takedown If you consider content in White Rose Research Online to be in breach of UK law, please notify us by emailing [email protected] including the URL of the record and the reason for the withdrawal request. [email protected] https://eprints.whiterose.ac.uk/ Defendant-Sided Unjust Factors Duncan Sheehan This paper models how duress and undue influence as vitiating factors in contract and unjust enrichment affect the structure of the claimant’s intentional agency. -
Undue Influence Updated: a Framework for Recognizing, Investigating, and Responding
UNDUE INFLUENCE UPDATED: A FRAMEWORK FOR RECOGNIZING, INVESTIGATING, AND RESPONDING NATIONAL ADULT PROTECTIVE SERVICES ASSOCIATION AUGUST 20, 2019 MARY JOY QUINN, MA, RN, MFT CANDACE HEISLER, JD QUINN AND HEISLER UNDUE INFLUENCE, 2019. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. 1 Overview of Session Psychological aspects of undue influence Legal aspects of undue influence Consent and capacity issues Two research studies ◦ 2010 Exploratory study of undue influence ◦ 2016 Development of screening tool for undue influence Case Studies California Undue Influence Screening Tool (CUIST) QUINN AND HEISLER UNDUE INFLUENCE, 2019. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. 2 Undue Influence as a Psychological Process •Psychological process, not one time event •One person gradually takes over the thoughts, actions, and decision making powers of another person and benefits by doing so. •Accomplishes this by deceit, isolation, threats, deprivation of sleep or necessities of life, manipulation of medication, withholding information, inducing guilt, creating siege mentality, dependency, fear, fake worlds, relationship poisoning QUINN AND HEISLER UNDUE INFLUENCE, 2019. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. 3 Legal Perspective • Legal proceedings: deal with results of undue influence ◦ Transfer of property ◦ Changes in beneficiaries of a will, ◦ Change in ownership of bank accounts. ◦ Consent? Capacity? • Federal laws ◦ Elder Justice Act and Older Americans Act –Do not define undue influence or include the term in their definitions of financial exploitation or abuse • State laws vary ◦ May mention the term undue influence but not define it ◦ May include undue influence as part of another definition: e.g., APS, Civil, Probate or Criminal ◦ Definition may be out of date and inconsistent with contemporary thought and practice ◦ State courts laws commonly include undue influence in wills, trusts, gifts, contracts QUINN AND HEISLER UNDUE INFLUENCE, 2019. -
CIVIL ACTION FRANK FUMAI, : : Plaintiff, : : V. : : HARVEY LEVY, SUBURBAN : THERAPY, INC., and : SUBURBAN MEDICAL ASSOCIATES, : : Defendants
IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE EASTERN DISTRICT OF PENNSYLVANIA : CIVIL ACTION FRANK FUMAI, : : Plaintiff, : : v. : : HARVEY LEVY, SUBURBAN : THERAPY, INC., and : SUBURBAN MEDICAL ASSOCIATES, : : Defendants. : NO. 95-1674 M E M O R A N D U M Reed, J. January 16, 1998 The Court issues this memorandum in support of its Order dated January 9, 1998 (Document No. 42), in which the Court denied the motion of defendants Harvey Levy (“Levy”), Suburban Therapy, Inc. (“ST”), and Suburban Medical Associates (“SM”) (collectively “the defendants”) for partial reconsideration of the Order dated December 19, 1997 (Document No. 38) and granted in part the renewed motion of plaintiff Frank Fumai (“Fumai”) in limine to exclude all evidence and argument at trial that pertains or relates to the defendants’ claim or defense that Fumai breached a fiduciary duty owed to Allegheny United Hospitals (“Allegheny”) in connection with the sale of the assets of ST and SM to Allegheny (Document No. 37). I. BACKGROUND The following background facts are undisputed.1 On November 1, 1990, Fumai entered into an agreement with the defendants whereby Fumai would receive a commission from the sale of capital stock or assets of ST and SM if he procured a purchaser or introduced a party to the defendants who later introduced or procured a purchaser. Under the agreement, Fumai would receive 10% of the purchase price of ST and 5% of the purchase price of SM for such a sale. At the time of the contract between Fumai and the defendants, the main business of ST was the management of physician care services, including management of SM. -
California Breaks New Ground in the Fight Against Elder Abuse but Fails to Build an Effective Foundation Kymberleigh N
Hastings Law Journal Volume 52 | Issue 2 Article 4 1-2001 Extinguishing Inheritance Rights: California Breaks New Ground in the Fight against Elder Abuse but Fails to Build an Effective Foundation Kymberleigh N. Korpus Follow this and additional works at: https://repository.uchastings.edu/hastings_law_journal Part of the Law Commons Recommended Citation Kymberleigh N. Korpus, Extinguishing Inheritance Rights: California Breaks New Ground in the Fight against Elder Abuse but Fails to Build an Effective Foundation, 52 Hastings L.J. 537 (2001). Available at: https://repository.uchastings.edu/hastings_law_journal/vol52/iss2/4 This Note is brought to you for free and open access by the Law Journals at UC Hastings Scholarship Repository. It has been accepted for inclusion in Hastings Law Journal by an authorized editor of UC Hastings Scholarship Repository. For more information, please contact [email protected]. Notes Extinguishing Inheritance Rights: California Breaks New Ground in the Fight Against Elder Abuse But Fails to Build an Effective Foundation by KYMBERLEIGH N. KoRPUs* "The breakdown of the family challenges the very foundations of American inheritance law.... On December 2, 1988, firemen responded to a call for emergency assistance and entered the home Dolores McKelvey shared with her grown children, Thomas and Theresa.2 The firemen discovered Dolores, a multiple sclerosis victim, who was paralyzed and unable even to use a wheelchair, [i]n a hospital bed lying in excrement from her ankles to her shoulders. Maggots, ants and other insects crawled upon her. She * J.D. Candidate, Hastings College of the Law, 2001; B.A. Political Science, University of California at Berkeley, 1997. -
Contractual Capacity
CONTRACTUAL CAPACITY Contractual Capacity: The minimum mental capacity the law requires to bind a party who enters into a contract. The law presumes that the following classes of persons lacked contractual capacity when they entered into a contract to bind them to a contract they wish to avoid: (1) persons who were minors; (2) persons who were mentally impaired, including those whose impairment was due to voluntarily consuming alcohol or drugs; (3) persons who were mentally incompetent, but had not been adjudged incompetent and were not under the care of a legal guardian. Unlike a void contract, which the law will not enforce, a voidable contract is enforceable unless the party with the right to avoid it elects to do so. Disaffirmance: A person with the option to avoid a contract due to lack of capacity may do so by manifesting, by words or actions, his intent not to be bound. Disaffirmance must be timely. Ch. 14: Contracts: Capacity and Legality - No. 1 Clarkson et al.’s Business Law (13th ed.) MINORITY Subject to certain exceptions, an unmarried legal minor (in most states, someone less than 18 years old) may avoid a contract that would bind him if he were an adult. Contracts entered into by young children and contracts for something the law permits only for adults (e.g., a contract to purchase cigarettes or alcohol) are generally void, rather than voidable. Right to Disaffirm: Generally speaking, a minor may disaffirm a contract at any time during minority or for a reasonable time after he comes of age. When a minor disaffirms a contract, he can recover all property that he has transferred as consideration – even if it was subsequently transferred to a third party. -
Unit 6 – Contracts
Unit 6 – Contracts I. Definition A contract is a voluntary agreement between two or more parties that a court will enforce. The rights and obligations created by a contract apply only to the parties to the contract (i.e., those who agreed to them) and not to anyone else. II. Elements In order for a contract to be valid, certain elements must exist: (A) Competent parties. In order for a contract to be enforceable, the parties must have legal capacity. Even though most people can enter into binding agreements, there are some who must be protected from deception. The parties must be over the age of majority (18 under most state laws) and have sufficient mental capacity to understand the significance of the contract. Regarding the age requirement, if a minor enters a contract, that agreement can be voided by the minor but is binding on the other party, with some exceptions. (Contracts that a minor makes for necessaries such as food, clothing, shelter or transportation are generally enforceable.) This is called a voidable contract, which means that it will be valid (if all other elements are present) unless the minor wants to terminate it. The consequences of a minor avoiding a contract may be harsh to the other party. The minor need only return the subject matter of the contract to avoid the contract. if the subject matter of the contract is damaged the loss belongs to the nonavoiding party, not the minor. Regarding the mental capacity requirement, if the mental capacity of a party is so diminished that he cannot understand the nature and the consequences of the transaction, then that contract is also voidable (he can void it but the other party can not). -
Federalizing Contract Law
LCB_24_1_Article_5_Plass_Correction (Do Not Delete) 3/6/2020 10:06 AM FEDERALIZING CONTRACT LAW by Stephen A. Plass* Contract law is generally understood as state common law, supplemented by the Second Restatement of Contracts and Article 2 of the Uniform Commercial Code. It is regarded as an expression of personal liberty, anchored in the bar- gain and consideration model of the 19th century or classical period. However, for some time now, non-bargained or adhesion contracts have been the norm, and increasingly, the adjudication of legal rights and contractual remedies is controlled by privately determined arbitration rules. The widespread adoption of arbitral adjudication by businesses has been enthusiastically endorsed by the Supreme Court as consonant with the Federal Arbitration Act (“FAA”). How- ever, Court precedents have concluded that only bilateral or individualized arbitration promotes the goals of the FAA, while class arbitration is destruc- tive. Businesses and the Court have theorized that bilateral arbitration is an efficient process that reduces the transaction costs of all parties thereby permit- ting firms to reduce prices, create jobs, and innovate or improve products. But empirical research tells a different story. This Article discusses the constitu- tional contours of crafting common law for the FAA and its impact on state and federal laws. It shows that federal common law rules crafted for the FAA can operate to deny consumers and workers the neoclassical contractual guar- antee of a minimum adequate remedy and rob the federal and state govern- ments of billions of dollars in tax revenue. From FAA precedents the Article distills new rules of contract formation, interpretation, and enforcement and shows how these new rules undermine neoclassical limits on private control of legal remedies. -
Admissibility of Parol Evidence to Show Non-Donative Intent in Joint Bank Accounts
DePaul Law Review Volume 4 Issue 1 Fall-Winter 1954 Article 5 Admissibility of Parol Evidence to Show Non-Donative Intent in Joint Bank Accounts DePaul College of Law Follow this and additional works at: https://via.library.depaul.edu/law-review Recommended Citation DePaul College of Law, Admissibility of Parol Evidence to Show Non-Donative Intent in Joint Bank Accounts, 4 DePaul L. Rev. 49 (1954) Available at: https://via.library.depaul.edu/law-review/vol4/iss1/5 This Comments is brought to you for free and open access by the College of Law at Via Sapientiae. It has been accepted for inclusion in DePaul Law Review by an authorized editor of Via Sapientiae. For more information, please contact [email protected]. COMMENTS landowners would also discourage the practice in some cases of allowing the taxes to run on land that is not likely to be sold for lack of buyers at the tax sale, in the hope of a settlement at a later time, through a consent foreclosure proceeding, for a smaller amount than the taxes due. If the lien were placed on the owner, as well as on the land, the loss through this process to the state might be lessened. The threat of a personal action for the payment of the unpaid real estate taxes should increase the number that are paid, especially on vacant land in undeveloped areas, the principal class of land on which it has been found profitable in some instances to allow the taxes to accrue. While the use of the personal method of the enforcement of a tax claim will hardly end all nonpayment of taxes, it may possibly act as some deterrent to the most flagrant violators of the tax law, those who look at it as a speculation, hoping to, in effect, discount their property tax by allowing it to accrue, and by means of a friendly foreclosure proceeding, aided by the highly technical process to obtain a merchantable title to land without the consent of the former owner, reduce the amount of tax they pay. -
Unconscionable Bargains As a Unifying Doctrine
W12_PHILLIPS 9/21/2010 12:25:21 AM PROTECTING THOSE IN A DISADVANTAGEOUS NEGOTIATING POSITION: UNCONSCIONABLE BARGAINS AS A UNIFYING DOCTRINE John Phillips* INTRODUCTION Theories of the function and purpose of contract law abound. English law has been most influenced by the “classical” theory.1 Its recurring theme is that a contract is a reciprocal bargain entirely dependent upon the “will” of the parties and, importantly in the context of this Article, that the general law should intervene as little as possible with the freedom of the parties to contract. The model is one of liberal individualism, with the parties entirely free to pursue their own interests. As Professor Patrick Atiyah once put it: [T]he Court is the umpire to be appealed to when a foul is alleged, but the court has no substantive function beyond this. It is not the Court’s business to ensure that the bargain is fair, or to see that one party does not take undue advantage of another, or impose unreasonable terms by virtue of superior bargaining position. Any superiority in bargaining power is itself a matter for the market to rectify.2 Some see contract law quite differently. One view is that its function is to promote economic efficiency.3 Others argue that altruism should be the underlying rationale4 and, indeed, that * Professor of English Law, School of Law at King’s College London. 1. See generally P.S. ATIYAH, THE RISE AND FALL OF FREEDOM OF CONTRACT (1979) (looking at the historical evolution of contract theory and classical contract theory’s place in English law). -
Relative Consent and Contract Law
18 NEV. L.J. 165, KIM - FINAL 12/15/17 12:41 PM RELATIVE CONSENT AND CONTRACT LAW Nancy S. Kim* What does it mean to consent? Consent is an essential component of contracts, yet its part in contract law is obscure. Despite its importance, there is no independ- ent doctrine of consent; rather, it plays a key, but ill-defined role in assessing doc- trines such as assent or duress. This Article addresses this significant omission in contract law by disassembling the meaning of contractual consent into three con- ditions: an intentional act or manifestation of consent, voluntariness and knowledge. This Article argues that consent can only be understood relative to these three conditions. Accordingly, consent is not merely a conclusion but a pro- cess and a dynamic that depends upon a variety of factors, including the relative blameworthiness of the parties, their relationship, third party effects and societal impact. This Article, through an examination of classic and modern cases, demon- strates how the concept of relative consent provides a coherent framework for un- derstanding contract law. TABLE OF CONTENTS INTRODUCTION ....................................................................................... 166 I. CONSENT CONSTRUCTION AND CONSENT DESTRCUTION .......... 169 A. Consent Construction .......................................................... 170 1. Intentional Manifestation of Consent ........................... 171 2. The Knowledge Condition ............................................ 172 3. Voluntariness ............................................................... -
Los Angeles Lawyer November 2013
practice tips BY RYAN J. BARNCASTLE AND KENNETH E. MOORE The Fraud Exception to the Parol Evidence Rule after Riverisland THE PAROL EVIDENCE RULE, subject to certain exceptions, limits the interpretation of a contract to its “four corners” and excludes such extrinsic evidence as oral statements that conflict with the terms of the signed writing. The parol evidence rule and its exceptions are codified in California in Code of Civil Procedure section 1856. One well-estab- lished exception is fraud in the inducement of the agreement, but in 1935 the California Supreme Court, in Bank of America v. Pendergrass,1 held that the alleged false promise was inadmissible if it was directly at vari- ance with what was in the written contract. Since then, with regard to allegations of false promises, parties to written contracts have been able to rely on the signed agreement as a defense. However, earlier this year the supreme court reversed course and retired the Pendergrass rule. The court’s decision in Riverisland Cold Storage, Inc. v. Fresno- Madera Production Credit Association2 overruled this long-standing principle of law and may not only increase and prolong litigation but also may reshape the procedures for entering into valid and enforce- able written agreements. By overruling Pendergrass, the supreme court opened the door to challenges of written contracts with evidence of oral statements that conflict with the promises of performance set forth in the executed agreements. The significance of Riverisland is corroborated by the subsequent court of appeal decision in Julius Castle Restaurant, Inc. v. James Frederick Payne,3 which gave Riverisland an expansive interpretation. -
Contract Basics for Litigators: Illinois by Diane Cafferata and Allison Huebert, Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan, LLP, with Practical Law Commercial Litigation
STATE Q&A Contract Basics for Litigators: Illinois by Diane Cafferata and Allison Huebert, Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan, LLP, with Practical Law Commercial Litigation Status: Law stated as of 01 Jun 2020 | Jurisdiction: Illinois, United States This document is published by Practical Law and can be found at: us.practicallaw.tr.com/w-022-7463 Request a free trial and demonstration at: us.practicallaw.tr.com/about/freetrial A Q&A guide to state law on contract principles and breach of contract issues under Illinois common law. This guide addresses contract formation, types of contracts, general contract construction rules, how to alter and terminate contracts, and how courts interpret and enforce dispute resolution clauses. This guide also addresses the basics of a breach of contract action, including the elements of the claim, the statute of limitations, common defenses, and the types of remedies available to the non-breaching party. Contract Formation to enter into a bargain, made in a manner that justifies another party’s understanding that its assent to that 1. What are the elements of a valid contract bargain is invited and will conclude it” (First 38, LLC v. NM Project Co., 2015 IL App (1st) 142680-U, ¶ 51 (unpublished in your jurisdiction? order under Ill. S. Ct. R. 23) (citing Black’s Law Dictionary 1113 (8th ed.2004) and Restatement (Second) of In Illinois, the elements necessary for a valid contract are: Contracts § 24 (1981))). • An offer. • An acceptance. Acceptance • Consideration. Under Illinois law, an acceptance occurs if the party assented to the essential terms contained in the • Ascertainable Material terms.