Category: Business Law

Mason v. Murawski

CONTRACTS; INJUNCTIONS—Where a contract-seller is acting in ways that can substantially damage the value of a business in the process of being sold, a buyer may be entitled to injunctive relief to stop those acts.

• Opinion Date: August 17, 2001

Wade v. Kessler Institute

CONTRACTS; IMPLIED COVENANTS—A finding that a contract exists is a prerequisite to a finding that the implied covenant of good faith and fair dealing has been breached.

• Opinion Date: July 27, 2001

Wilson v. Amerada Hess Corporation

CONTRACTS; IMPLIED COVENANTS—A party exercising its right to use discretion under a contract must still abide by the covenant of good faith and fair dealing and cannot act arbitrarily with the objective of depriving the other party of its reasonably expected fruits of the contract.

• Opinion Date: June 14, 2001

Roadmasters, Inc. v. Allstate Insurance, Co.

CONTRACTS; GOOD FAITH—Where there is no enforceable covenant for one party to perform certain duties, the implied covenant of good faith and fair dealing will not create one.

• Opinion Date: May 1, 2001

National Medical, Inc. v. SCA Hygiene Products

CONTRACTS; DISTRIBUTORS—An agreement that merely sets forth the prices at which a supplier will sell to its distributor may not require the supplier to sell to that distributor at all and the seller may terminate the agreement when its own business interests so dictate.

• Opinion Date: September 26, 2001

Commonwealth Advisors, LLC v. Nycomed Inc.

CONTRACTS; DAMAGES—A consultant that is entitled to share in the fruits of its efforts under a contract has the burden of showing the connection between those efforts and the result; a mere showing of a successful outcome to the other party does not allow a court to calculate the sum owed to the consultant.

• Opinion Date: November 8, 2001

Access Plumbing & Heating, Inc. v. South Orange-Maplewood Board of Education

CONTRACTS; CONSIDERATION—Amending a contract to indemnify a party for its past performance is invalid where the indemnification is gratuitous because the indemnifying party received no consideration in return for its agreement.

• Opinion Date: January 16, 2001

Jean-Baptiste v. Borkon Truckarama

CONTRACTS; BREACHES; DAMAGES—Where actual damages to a seller approximate the amount of a non-refundable contract deposit, the forfeiture of the deposit is not an unreasonable penalty.

• Opinion Date: June 8, 2001

Solchem Italiana, S.P.A. v. Bio-Technology General Corp.

CONTRACTS; ABANDONMENT—There is a high standard to be met by a party to a contract alleging that the other party abandoned its rights thereunder and the court analyzes those standards in the context of an exclusive supply agreement.

• Opinion Date: April 4, 2001

Lee v. Andress

CONTRACTS—A furniture store does not have to warn buyers that soft fabric may wrinkle.

• Opinion Date: December 6, 2001