Legal Cases on Damages for Breach: Sullivan v. O’Connor and Anglia TV, Ltd. v. Reed, Slides of Contract Law

Download Legal Cases on Damages for Breach: Sullivan v. O’Connor and Anglia TV, Ltd. v. Reed and more Slides Contract Law in PDF only on Docsity! SULLIVAN v. O’CONNOR • The Nose Job gone bad. Docsity.com SULLIVAN v. O’CONNOR “Rather the tendency of the formulation is to put the plaintiff back in the position he occupied just before the parties entered upon the agreement, to compensate him for the detriments he suffered in reliance upon the agreement.” Docsity.com SULLIVAN v. O’CONNOR What about pain and suffering? Generally no recovery in contract BUT “Suffering or distress resulting from the breach going beyond that which was envisaged by the treatment as agreed, should be compensable on the same ground as the worsening of the patient’s condition because of the breach. Indeed it can be argued that the very suffering or distress ‘‘contracted for’’—that which would have been incurred if the treatment achieved the promised result—should also be compensable on the theory underlying the New York cases. For that suffering is ‘‘wasted’’ if the treatment fails. Docsity.com ANGLIA TELEVISION, LTD. v. REED •Page 1 Robert Reed gone missing. Is he in Hawaii? Docsity.com ANGLIA TELEVISION, LTD. v. REED “Anglia Television do not claim their profit. They cannot say what their profit would have been on this contract if Mr. Reed had come here and performed it. So, instead of claim for loss or profits, they claim for the wasted expenditure. They had incurred the director’s fees, the designer’s fees, the stage manager’s and assistant manager’s fees, and so on. It comes in all to £2,750.” Docsity.com §349. Damages Based on Reliance Interest As an alternative to the measure of damages stated in §347, the injured party has a right to damages based on reliance interest, including expenditures made in preparation for performance or in performance, less any loss that the party in breach can prove with reasonable certainty the injured party would have suffered had the contract been performed. Docsity.com 1. If the expectation measure is the ‘‘normal’’ remedy for the plaintiff, why did the court in Sullivan choose the reliance measure as the appropriate measure for the plaintiff? Why did the plaintiff opt for the reliance measure over the expectancy measure in Anglia? 2. In Anglia what would be the award if it appeared that the plaintiff was going to lose money on the film? Whose obligation is it to show that a loss is likely to occur? 3. Would it affect the result in Anglia if the amount of the reliance interest had been $22 million? Docsity.com Reliance Damages 1. When the non-breaching party cannot prove expectation – too speculative. 2. Some skepticism of court about the claim or the damages. 3. Promissory Estoppel – remedy limited “as justice requires” Docsity.com Promissory Estoppel • is binding – Expectation Damage Formula • The remedy granted for breach may be limited [by whom? To what?] as justice requires. – The Trial Court – To Reliance Damages Docsity.com Restitution (1) as an independent theory of recovery when there is no enforceable contract because of lack of mutual assent or some other formation defect—‘‘quasi-contract’’ actions; (2) as an alternative method to measure damages, or as an independent remedy, for a party not in breach of an enforceable contract; (3) as an independent remedy for a party who has breached an enforceable contract; (4) as an independent theory of recovery when a contract is unenforceable because of some defect such as a lack of a requisite writing (a Statute of Frauds problem), impossibility, mistake, or incapacity. Docsity.com Facts of Coastal Steel v. Algernon Blair • P is subcontractor on construction • D is General • D failed to pay for Crane Rental • P terminated the contract and sued for damages Docsity.com What is Coastal’s measure of damages? Docsity.com What is Coastal’s measure of damages? Direct Damages plus incidental and consequential damages less loss avoided. Docsity.com What is Coastal’s measure of damages? Direct Damages plus incidental and consequential damages less loss avoided. Lost profit plus cost of partial performance. No “resale” damages in this context. Docsity.com Solution to this problem? Docsity.com Solution to this problem? • Coastal can elect Quantim Meruit claim instead. Restitution. Docsity.com Solution to this problem? • Coastal can elect Quantim Meruit claim instead. Restitution. – reasonable value of the performance; and recovery is undiminished by any loss which would have been incurred by complete performance Docsity.com