The mother of a son and a daughter was dying. The daughter visited her mother in a hospice facility and said, “You know that I have always been the good child, and my brother has always been the bad child. Even so, you have left your property in the will to us fifty-fifty. But it would be really nice if you would sell me the family home for $100,000.” “I don’t know,” said the mother. “It is worth a lot more than that-at least $250,000.” “That is true,” said the daughter. “But I have always been good and visited you, and my brother has never visited you, so that ought to be worth something. And besides, if you won’t sell me the house for that price, maybe I won’t visit you anymore, either.” “Oh, I wouldn’t want that,” said the mother, and she signed a contract selling the house to her daughter for $100,000. Shortly thereafter, the mother died. When her son found out that the house had been sold and was not part of his mother’s estate, he sued to have the contract avoided on behalf of the mother. On what ground would the contract most likely be avoided?

Before putting her home up for sale, a homeowner painted the living room ceiling to conceal major water damage caused by a leaking roof that had not yet been repaired. On the first day the home was offered for sale, the homeowner gave a buyer a personal tour. The homeowner made no statements at all regarding the water damage or the roof. Without discovering the water damage or the leaking roof and without consulting a lawyer, the buyer immediately agreed in writing to buy the home for $200,000. Before the closing date, the buyer discovered the water damage and the leaking roof. The cost of repair was estimated at $22,000. The buyer has refused to go through with the purchase. If the homeowner sues the buyer for breach of contract, is the homeowner likely to prevail?

On June 1, a seller agreed, in a writing signed by both the seller and the buyer, to sell an antique car to a buyer for $20,000. The car was at the time on display in a museum in a different city and was to be delivered to the buyer on August 1. On July 15, before the risk of loss had passed to the buyer, the car was destroyed by fire without fault of either party. Subsequent to the contract but before the fire, the car had increased in value to $30,000. The seller sued the buyer for the contract price of $20,000, and the buyer counterclaimed for $30,000. Which of the following will the court conclude?

On June 1, a general contractor and a subcontractor entered into a contract under which the subcontractor agreed to deliver all of the steel joists that the general contractor required in the construction of a hospital building. The contract provided that delivery of the steel joists would begin on September 1. Although the general contractor had no reason to doubt the subcontractor’s ability to perform, the general contractor wanted to be sure that the subcontractor was on track for delivery in September. He therefore wrote a letter on July 1 to the subcontractor demanding that the subcontractor provide assurance of its ability to meet the September 1 deadline. The subcontractor refused to provide such assurance. The general contractor then immediately obtained the steel joists from another supplier. If the subcontractor sues the general contractor for breach of contract, is the subcontractor likely to prevail?

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.  After a couple of tutoring sessions, Alexander became angry with Luke’s lack of interest and declared that teaching Luke French was “impossible.” Is the contract discharged?

A wholesaler contracted in a signed writing to sell to a bakery 10,000 pounds of flour each week for 10 weeks, the flour to be delivered to the bakery on Mondays and payment to be made on Wednesdays of each week. The bakery did all of its weekly bread baking on Tuesdays. On Monday morning of the first week, the wholesaler tendered delivery of 8,000 pounds of flour to the bakery, and the bakery accepted it on the wholesaler’s assurance that the remaining 2,000 pounds would be delivered later that evening, which it was. The bakery paid for both deliveries on Wednesday. On Monday of the second week, the wholesaler tendered delivery of 5,000 pounds of flour to the bakery and said that the remaining 5,000 pounds could not be delivered on Monday but would be delivered by Wednesday.  The bakery rejected the tender. Was the bakery legally justified in rejecting the tender of the 5,000 pounds of flour?

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?

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)_.

ShowCo, located in Pottsfield, produces shows for theater owners. StageCo, located in Cincotti, owns and operates a theater. On July 1, 2019, ShowCo and StageCo form a contract including these terms: Whereas StageCo plans to sell seats in its theater for $100 each on such dates and for such performances as are described below, and whereas Morton Green is a world-renowned baritone revered, moreover, for his portrayal of the part of Ko-Ko in the opera hereinafter mentioned, the parties do agree that: ShowCo will produce, at StageCo’s facility, on the dates October 1 to October 15, 2019, inclusive, the comic opera Mikado, for which ShowCo will hire, furnish, and pay the entire cast and orchestra, the leading baritone role of Ko-Ko to be played by the celebrity Morton Green; and StageCo will, on November 1, pay ShowCo $500,000 for such service. Which of the following facts, if proven, would most likely discharge ShowCo’s duty to perform on the theory of impracticability?

Bobby knows that she is producing a value just equal to her wage. If the price of what she makes falls, Bobby knows that she