Question

Please use IRAC format to answer this question.

Bob is tired of working as an attorney and decides to open a pet shop. Although Bob knows nothing about dogs, he decides to specialize in retrievers. Bob calls up Dog Breeder and orders 10 Black Labrador retrievers, 10 Chocolate Labrador retrievers, and 10 Yellow Labrador retrievers. All dogs are to be pure bred and male.

Breeder mistakenly sends Bob 5 male and 5 female retrievers of each category. Bob does not notice the difference. Although Breeder “certifies” that they are pure bred, he does not send any papers.

Bob puts an ad in the newspaper advertising male Black Labs $200.00 each, male Yellow Labs $150.00 each, male Chocolate Labs $100.00 each. Grand Opening Sale.

The ad works and Bob’s store is busy. Sally is the first person in the door and immediately picks out a cute female black lab. Neither Bob nor Sally knows it is a female. Bob writes up a contract transferring ownership to Sally.

Printed on the contract is a statement “All Sales Final.” Sally signs the contract, pays cash, and leaves with her new dog.

Betty, a dog trainer, asks for a pure bred Yellow Labrador. Betty asks, “Are you sure this is a pure bred?” Bob says, “It was certified by Dog Breeder.” Betty thinks she is getting a great deal since a pure bred yellow lab typically sells for $1,000.00. Betty signs her contract and pays for the dog.

All the dogs sell in a matter of minutes except for one chocolate lab.

Sally calls her sister Sarah who has been looking for a Labrador. Sally tells Sarah that Bob is having a big sale and that she just bought the “cutest Labrador pup. It’s black and costs $200.00.”

Sarah immediately calls Bob. Sarah says, “I would like to buy a Labrador puppy.” Bob says, “I only have one left, but will sell it to you for $100.00.” Sarah says, “I will take it. Here is my credit card information and ship it to my home.” Bob charged the credit card and shipped the chocolate lab to Sarah. When the dog arrives, Sarah is shocked because she thought all Labradors were black and she wanted a black Labrador.

A few days after the grand opening, Sally’s vet tells her that her male dog is a female. Betty’s vet determines that Betty’s dog is not pure bred.

Sally, Betty, and Sarah all bring their dogs back to Bob and demand their money back. Bob refuses and states, “All sales are final.”

Answer these questions by selecting the best answer and support each answer with at least two paragraphs of legal analysis.

With regard to the facts between Sally and Bob, select the probable result:

Unilateral Mistake, Material, Voidable

Unilateral Mistake, Not Material, Voidable

Mutual Mistake, Material, Voidable

Mutual Mistake, Not Material, Voidable

With regard to the facts between Betty and Bob, select the probable result:

Mutual mistake, Material, Voidable

Voidable based on Bob’s Misrepresentation

Neither

Both

With regard to the facts between Sarah and Bob, select the probable result:

Mutual mistake, Voidable

Unilateral mistake, Valid Contract

Be sure to comment not only on the strengths of your position but arguments likely to be raised by Sally, Betty and Sarah. You should cite cases from your reading materials and from research you may do on the Lexis®/Nexis® database that is accessed through the Taft website.

Answer 1

With regards to fact between Sally and Bob-

Mutual mistake,Voidable,Material-this happens when both the parties entering into the contract dont have correct facts relating to the agreement,the contract may be voidable by the more affected party on following conditions:-

• the mistake /error concerns assumption on which contract is made(parties thought that dog was male).
• error/mistaken had an effect on exchanges(females dog worth less than that of male dog).
• party did not assume the consequences of mistake.

With regards to fact between Betty and Bob-

Voidable based on Bob's misinterpretation-A non fraudulent misinterpretation can still makes the contract voidable if other party on its own relies on the misrepresentation.the represenattion is material if information would induce a person to agree.

Here, Bob asserted that the dog was pure breed and knew that it would induce a sale.Although Bob's misinformation was unintentional , it was still a misrepresentation.Betty relied on his information and pure breed dog was more valuable.

With regard to the facts between Sarah and Bob-

Unilateral mistake,valid contract-Sarah made mistake based on her own false interpretation.Bob did not gave any false information to sarah.Thus, contract is valid and enforceable.

Legal rule says that when only one party is mistaken about the facts, that mistake cant prevent the formation of contract.If correct party knew the mistake made by the other party, then the contract could be cancelled. Bob had no reason to know about Sarah's incorrect assumptions about beagle ,thus contract is valid.