How Contracts Work

Undue Influence an Issue in the DC Mayoral Race?

August 30, 2010

The Washington Post recently published an editorial regarding the current accusations being flung at incumbent Washington DC mayor Adrian M. Fenty, many of which have to do with allegations of rigged contracts. The author picks up on an interesting contractual concept early in the editorial that is something with which we are all familiar, but very few of us could define: Undue Influence.

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Paris Hilton $35m Breach of Contract: A Short Analysis

August 16, 2010

Paris Hilton was in the news again last week–this time because she is being sued by Hairtech International for not fulfilling her endorsement contract. As such a high-profile breach of contract situation, I thought I would use this opportunity to explore contract breaches, whether damages are appropriate, and what the result might be.

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How to Escape a Contract

July 28, 2010

Jakarta’s House of Representatives ran into a contract problem recently: they decided they no longer wanted to be part of a contract they had signed with a developer to allow the use of land adjacent to the legislative complex to be used for a shopping mall for the next 25 years. That is a big [...]

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Dakota Fanning’s Tattoo Contract: Is It Valid?

March 25, 2010

Dakota Fanning was a guest on George Lopez’s show, Lopez Tonight, on Monday, March 22, 2010. During the interview she told Lopez that when she was 11, she and her sister had signed contracts with her mom stating, “I will not ever get a tattoo….” To date, it seems she has not gotten one, although she is still only 17 and would likely have trouble getting one on her own at a licensed shop.

Although the tattoo she got during a commercial break on Lopez’s show was just drawn on and will wash off, there’s still a question as to whether it would have broken her contract if she had gotten a real tattoo.

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Do I Have to Read This Contract? It’s So Long….

February 23, 2010

Contracts generally only require that you actually intend to enter into a contract with another party, not that you intend to enter into this specific contract. Once you understand that whatever you are signing is supposed to be legally binding and enforceable by the courts, you are likely stuck with that agreement, even if you [...]

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First Post…Again: What is a Contract, and why should you care?

February 19, 2010

Apparently when I moved hosts, my initial post got demolished. Oops. So I will introduce this blog again. In short, this blog regards all things contracts, and it is intended for an audience that may not be particularly familiar with the language or concepts related to contracts. So what exactly is a Contract? According to [...]

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