How Contracts Work

Brian Austin Green: My Ex Breached An Oral Contract

by Graham Martin on January 16, 2012 · 0 comments

gentlemen talking

Here’s the short version: While working on the newer incarnation of “Beverly Hills 90210,” Brian Austin Green apparently started dating co-star Vanessa Marcil-Giovinazzo. During the course of their courtship, Green lent Marcil approximately $200,000 in $50,000 increments. This was in the year 2000. In November of 2011, Green tried to collect on his loans to no avail. So Brian Austin Green filed a lawsuit against Ms. Marcil-Giovinazzo (PDF). Will he be able to enforce that agreement through the courts?

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David Cassidy, Contracts, Statutes of Limitations, and Unconscionability: A Tale of Woe in One Act

October 11, 2011
the milky way

On October 5, 2011, David Cassidy sued Sony (among others) for his share of 40 years of Profits from the Partridge Family. The suit alleges that Sony and the other defendants “have been perpetrating a scam,” having only been paid approximately $5,000 for royalties on Partridge Family merchandise. What can this situation teach us about Statutes of Limitations and Unconscionability?

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Can Yahoo! UK’s Email Terms and Conditions Update Bind Third Parties?

July 19, 2011
Yahoo! Logo

Recently Yahoo! in the United Kingdom updated its email terms and conditions to the great dismay of many of its users and other privacy watchdogs. The change allows Yahoo! to read the email, instant messages, and text messages of its users and any incoming messages to their accounts, for the purposes of targeting advertising. Is this allowable and enforceable?

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Beware a Lack of Contracts

April 5, 2011
bend in the road

A couple weeks ago I was struggling to find a topic for Fine Print Friday, caused mainly by a lack of contracts offered by the services I was investigating. Just because you didn’t see a contract doesn’t mean it’s not there. Keep in mind these four lessons when signing up for a service without a contract.

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Contract Killer Fails to Kill—Contract Modified

February 14, 2011
simeon henderson

If you have been reading this blog at least semi-regularly you will notice a couple issues given this post’s title: (1) A contract to kill someone, and (2) Modification of a contract. There technically isn’t anything wrong with modifying a contract, but generally every party to the contract needs to agree to the modification in [...]

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R, S, T, L, N & E: Commonalities in Contracts

February 11, 2011
red fractal

You can pretty much assume that you will find most (or all) of the following provisions in any commercial or adhesion contract you encounter, and can instead focus your attention on the clauses that are unique to the contract. Knowing what these common provisions are should help you be more aware of what happens each time you sign a contract, and allow you to more effectively skim those blasted contract monstrosities.

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How NOT to Escape a Contract

February 1, 2011
Bees

I just discovered a story from a couple years ago involving eBay, a buyer, an RV and killer bees, and it is a great example of how not to escape a contract.

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The Importance of Power in Contract Negotiations

January 26, 2011

Since contracts are always between at least two parties, at times it is important to keep in mind whether one party has more power over another. This can lead the less-powerful party to make concessions in the agreement, or even agree to terms that are not in its interest, simply to get the deal done.

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