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On March 1, an excavator entered into a contract with a contractor to perform excavation work on a large project. The contract expressly required that the excavator begin work on June 1 to enable other subcontractors to install utilities. On May 15, the excavator requested a 30-day delay in the start date for the excavation work because he was seriously behind schedule on another project. When the contractor refused to grant the delay, the excavator stated that he would try to begin the work for the contractor on June 1. Does the contractor have valid legal grounds to cancel the contract with the excavator and hire a replacement?

At the start of this past baseball season, a wholesale baseball distributor and a baseball team entered into a written agreement, whereby the distributor agreed to supply baseballs, meeting league specifications, to the team at a price of $20 per dozen, in such quantities as the team would order from time-to-time. The distributor agreed to deliver the balls to the team’s ballpark within 10 days of each order, payment to be cash on delivery. At first, the team used the balls left over from the previous season and ordered nothing. Then on April 19, the team placed a written order with the distributor for 50 dozen baseballs, at $20 per dozen, to be delivered on May 1. Since the team knew it would need an additional 50 dozen balls by the last two weeks in May, the team enclosed with the order a letter stating, “We also order an additional 50 dozen balls, if we can buy them for $18 per dozen.” What is the state of the contractual relationship between the parties at the time the baseball distributor received the April 19 communication from the team?

Amelia, an architect, entered into a contract with the city of Centersville for Amelia to design a hockey rink to accommodate a professional hockey team that was moving to Centersville.  A few weeks after the contract was formed, the professional hockey team decided not to move to Centersville. Mitchell, the mayor of Centersville, contacted many other professional hockey teams, but none wanted to move to Centersville. Mitchell met with a large number community members to determine if there would be any other use for the hockey rink once it was built if the city did not have a professional hockey team. No one in the community demonstrated the need for or desire to use an ice rink.  Can Centersville discharge its contract with Amelia?

A developer contracted in writing to sell to a buyer a house on a one-acre lot for $100,000. The developer told the buyer that the lot abutted a national park and that the water for the house came from a natural artesian spring. The developer knew that both of these representations were important to the buyer and that both were false. The buyer moved into the house and eight months later learned that a private golf course was being constructed on the adjacent land and that the water for his house was piped in from the city reservoir. The buyer immediately sued the developer to avoid the contract. The construction of the golf course will probably increase the market value of the buyer’s property, and the water from the city reservoir exceeds all established standards for drinking water. Is the buyer likely to prevail?

On May 1, a seller and a buyer entered into a written contract, signed by both parties, for the sale of a tract of land for $100,000. Delivery of the deed and payment of the purchase price were scheduled for July 1. On June 1, the buyer received a letter from the seller repudiating the contract. On June 5, the buyer bought a second tract of land at a higher price as a substitute for the first tract. On June 10, the seller communicated a retraction of the repudiation to the buyer. The buyer did not tender the purchase price for the first tract on July 1, but subsequently sued the seller for breach of contract. Will the buyer likely prevail?

In early January, a famous fast food restaurant chain entered into a contract with a consulting firm specializing in labor-intensive industries. This writing was signed by both parties, and provided that if at least 2,000 work-hours per restaurant are eliminated, the restaurant chain will pay to the consultants within 90 days of installation of new food production systems at the local restaurants a first installment of $1 million. It went on to provide that upon installation of new food processing systems nationwide, the restaurant chain will pay to the consultants a second and final installment of $1.5 million, that nationwide installation must be completed by January 15 of the following year, and that any amendments to the agreement must be in writing and signed by both parties. The consultants immediately began work on the restructuring of their client’s food processing methods. On September 5, the consultants had designed a radical change in the food production system that could be implemented by October 1, and they demanded payment of the first installment payment of $1 million. Were the consultants entitled to payment of the first installment when they completed design work on the new system on September 5?

A salvage company offered for sale Confederate dollars that had been recovered when the company recently raised a shipwreck off the coast of South Carolina. A purchasing agent for a private west coast museum purchased the bills, but he had represented that he was buying them for himself in hopes of obtaining a lower price. After purchasing the bills, the agent carefully packaged them and had them shipped to his museum. While the bills were in transit, the museum burned to the ground and its owner decided that she would not rebuild because most of her collections had been destroyed. When the bills arrived after the fire, the owner opened the package only to discover that the bills were too brittle for shipping by this method—three bills had disintegrated in transit. Undaunted, the owner took the remaining nine bills and had them mounted behind a glass frame so she could display them in her study. While the bills were being framed, the owner read on the Internet that a large cache of similar bills had just been discovered, and the market price for such bills had just been cut in half. Frustrated but still undaunted, the owner hung the framed bills in her study. Unfortunately, the salt water had reacted with the pigments in the bills in such a way that shortly after they had been exposed to indirect sunlight, all of the color in the bills faded almost completely away. No other Confederate bills raised from the ocean before had similar reactions; these bills appear to have been printed using substandard dyes. Which of the following facts would give the museum owner the best basis for rescinding the contract with the salvage company?

Madeline and Alexander entered into a contract for Alexander to tutor Madeline’s son, Luke, in French during the school year to ensure that Luke receives a high grade in his language course. The day before classes began, Luke switched his schedule to take German instead of French.  Is the contract discharged?

The following table shows the total dollar amount of sales in 2012 for the four largest firms in the adhesive manufacturing industry. Total industry sales in 2012 were $782,000. Use this table to answer the following questions:Firm NameSales in 2012Glues R Us$362,000Glue Down  105,000Sticky    85,000All Glues    76,000All other firms in industry combined  154,000 If Glues R Us split into two separate companies, the concentration ratio would ________ and the market price of adhesive would likely ________.

Amy just applied for a position with Rory’s firm. Rory knows that Amy will earn $20 an hour and can produce a value of the marginal product of labor (VMPL) of $40. Rory will _(hire/not hire/maybe hire)__ Amy because her VMPL is _(positive/negative)_.