he Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Howard Hospital (Howard) began negotiations with Jack Construction's (Jack) President to build a rehabilitation center wing onto Howard's location in South Palm Beach. After almost a week of negotiation, on a Friday, the CEO and President came to a common understanding of the project price ($10 million) and timeline (end of 2017). Over a celebratory scotch, the CEO noted that Howard's legal would be sending over a written contract for Jack to look over and sign.

On the following Tuesday, Jack received a hard copy of the contract based on the discussion between Howard's CEO and Jack's President. Upon receiving it, Jack made one change to the end delivery date for the work to be completed, signed and mailed it back.

The next day, Wednesday, Jack purchased $500,000 in supplies for the project and turned down another job which would have paid only $1,000,000. Later that same day, Jack received a frantic phone call from the CEO of Howard: "The deal is off. We haven't received anything back from you yet anyway."

Discuss whether Jack Construction has any contractual rights against Howard Hospital if Howard refuses to move forward. Include arguments that both sides may assert, the likely outcome, and damages that may be awarded, if any.

Answer rating: 100% (QA)

Jack Construction has a strong argument that they should be compe... View the full answer