Case Study 1. Suzy Bartles enters into an oral contract to purchase a tract of land from Bill Hermes. The land is considered worthless, but Bartles feels that she has discovered a possible usage that would drastically increase the value of the land. To assure herself of the potential value of the land, Bartles orally hires an attorney to investigate the title and records associated with the land in question. Before gaining any information from her attorney, Bartles orally contracts with a builder to construct a huge building on the site. Because of the size of the project, a completion time is difficult to predict. Bartles now discovers that the land is indeed useless, a fact that she obtains through information from her attorney. Bartles now refuses to honor her contracts with Hermes, her attorney, and the builder. DISCUSS, Must Bartles honor her contractual agreements? Discuss and decide both cases. What laws/issues of law will you use to make your position.
Case Study 2. Al was an attorney in a small town and was very well respected. A couple retained Al to represent them on the purchase of a home. Before closing, Al informed the couple of payments that they were required to make by check at the closing. Among the required payments the attorney told the couple to make were a check for $500 to Bob Brown and a check for $610 to Susan Lee. The attorney explained that the check to Brown was for a survey of the property and the check to Lee was for termite-control work that the couple had authorized. The checks were issued and taken by Al who promised to deliver them. Al did not, however, deliver them. Instead, Al forged the endorsements of the respective payees and cashed the checks. When Al was later arrested on a similar matter, the couple learned what had happened. The couple made a claim against its bank for reimbursement claiming the bank was not authorized to pay these checks because they had not been effectively negotiated to the bank. When the facts came to light, no person named Bob Brown had done a survey on the property, but the termite work had been done by Lee. DISCUSS the legal issues and possible outcomes