Legal Analysis of Charitable Donation Dispute - Essay Example

M E M O R A N D U M Mr. Gary Brown Austin Nelson RE: Legal Analysis of Charitable Donation DisputeIntroduction You have asked me to review and provide feedback and suggestions concerning your Charitable Donation Dispute. I have gone through it and examined the facts that have been provided therein. This memorandum will provide you with several options. The choice of action is yours to take, if you decide to file suit against the Integral Health Center or let the initial donation stand. Through this memorandum, I have given you the details of the law and have broken them down to a level that makes it more straightforward and understandable. You should make a decision about which way you would like to fix this issue as soon as possible. This will ensure that justice is pursued and attained accordingly. Reviewing and evaluating the legal aspects of decisions made at different situations is of paramount importance especially in this environment that is characterized by trickery and lies. Thus although your intentions towards charitable donations are geared towards enhancing the good of the society, relative relationships and agreements that you enter into need to be defined by legal provisions. From a legal point of view, it cannot be disputed that you were misled by Integral Health Facility into paying them that particular amount of money. This action raises various legal concerns regarding parole evidence, specific performance, recession and so forth. Undoubtedly, the health facility breached the contract and the legal implications of this are diverse. Although factual information regarding these has been analyzed in the preceding segment, the final decision with respect to the legal measures to take is still yours. The problem To understand the legal implications that are related to your case, it is important to acknowledge the legal dimensions of this case. These provide useful insights regarding the bone of contention and enable you to make informed decisions. Respective understanding will for instance help you to understand the far you can go with regards to taking practical steps to address this legal concern. From the information provided, it cannot be disputed that you actually wanted to build a cancer health facility in remembrance of your mother. After being informed by Integral Health Center that they had plans to build a similar facility, you requested them to allow you finance the project and have it named after your mother upon completion. According to you, Integral Health Center wholeheartedly agreed to this proposition and you made the payments accordingly. You signed a contract which did not indicate that the facility would be named after your mother. However, you talked with the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) about the naming ceremony that was set to take place once the institution was completed. Probably, you presumed that these provisions would be effected regardless of not having been documented in the contract. However, the institution did not begin the construction and after your first inquiry, it promised to start constructing after three months. This was not effected and at this point, you met the Chief Executive Officer. It is at this point that the CEO informed you that the institution’s decision to build the facility was not firm and that it was not going to pursue it. The CEO however promised that the financial resources were going to be used on another equally important project. The bone of contention in this respect is the institution’s failure to build the facility, even after receiving money from you. Your claim is that the institution builds the facility and names it after your mother as agreed upon. From this case, there are various legal concerns that arise. The Notion of Fraud in the Case To understand the element of fraud in this case, it would be important for you to be conversant with the legal constituents of this malpractice. To begin with, there needs to be a false statement in the entire scenario1. This is instrumental in justifying the ‘material’ aspect of the fraud. In your case, this is apparent because the executives of Integral Health Center used a false statement that they would build the cancer facility in their institution. They also went ahead to promise to use your name as per your wishes. Undoubtedly, this influenced you into agreeing to cancel all other engagements and proceed with this. You can agree with me that this was never implemented; the facility was not built and your money is set to be used on other matters. Another important notion is the intent to deceive in the particular statement. Although this is not explicit in your case, the inherent lies justify the intention to deceive by the Integral Health Facility executives. This is implied by their failure to initiate any practical measures towards building the facility. Using their lies, the executives from the health facility were sure that they would convince you into entering the contract. They further capitalized on your vulnerability and need to have memories of your mother. The fact that your mother died from cancer from the facility implies that they knew that suggesting having plans to build a cancer facility would enable them to win. Finally, your reliance on the respective statement can be proved beyond reasonable doubt. In this case, you had credible reasons for relying on the promises of the executives2. In this respect, the fact that the facility is the largest and most established influenced the decision that you made. Seemingly, you relied on the information that was provided by the executives and even went ahead to deposit the cash as agreed. Although documentary evidence is not available for this, you also believed that the facility would be named after your mother. This can be used to explain why you entered into this wholeheartedly. Nonetheless, this could be taken as oral evidence just like in America’s Directories, Inc. v. Stellhorn One Hour Photo, Inc. (2005)3. Relative to this are the psychological damages that you have suffered and the financial losses that you are bound to encounter if this is not resolved in an effective and timely manner. Parole Evidence Equally important to your case is the notion of parole evidence that prevents one party to specific written contract from submitting extrinsic evidence that is contradictory to the written terms4. Further, this provision prevents the same to present more information than what was initially included in the contract in the court of law. The provision presumes that since the parties left out the respective information, they did not consider this important to the contract. This provision is usually applied to the contracts that are already finalized and which are considered to have been agreed upon by both parties unlike in First State Bank of Sinai V Mervin Hyland5. Notably, this has significant implications on the legality of your case. In essence this prevents you from adding any information to one that is already contained in the contract. It is important to be knowledgeable about this for you to pursue other viable options. Arbitration Option Perhaps the most sustainable option that you can pursue to resolve the issue pertains to arbitration. This includes employment of a third part to resolve the dispute. In this respect, you can go to an association and pick one arbitrator from this. There are several professionals who offer relative services at cost effective rates. Use these services to enable the both of you to reach a compromise that is agreeable as in Michelle Marvin V Lee Marvin6. This can save the time and resources that would be employed in the legal process. Comparatively, Barnett indicates that it is cheaper and more sustainable as it addresses the conflicts effectively7. For instance, the arbitrator can convince the hospital officials to effect the contract to your satisfaction and refund the amount that you deposited. Rescission Possibility In this case, you have the alternative of pursuing the rescission option. In simple terms, May and Ides define this as the unmaking of a contract that was once existent between two parties. Put differently, this constitution the unwinding of the respective transaction8. Once effected, this renders the initial contract null and void just like in Pettit V Liston9. This would be useful in your case because it would enable you to have your money back. With this, you can be able to pursue other options by looking for other institutions that are willing to enter into a contract with you. The main aim for this is to bring the involved parties to the initial position that they were before they decided to pursue the contract. You can take this to court and request that your contract is receded. In this context, it would be important to appreciate that rescission is discretionary and the court may refuse to rescind if the hospital affirms the contract by its action as in Joseph Eugene Dodson V Burns Shrader and Mary Shrader10. Legal evidence indicates that private companies are particularly unwilling to rescind than public institutions. Although this would be a viable option for you, it is unlikely to be granted based on the preceding consideration. The Possibility of Legalizing Oral Contract In your case, there is a vital omission that you made which could directly undermine the credibility of the evidence. Seemingly, you did not include the requirement by the institution to name the facility after your mother in the written contract. As aforementioned, this is important evidence that can have significant impacts on the case. You can consider including this information in the document through the oral contract provision. In his research, McKendrik defines oral evidence as the terms that are agreed to through spoken word11. In this respect, both parties agree on the terms, document the respective agreed upon terms but do not include these in the contract. This is then signed by the two parties as well as the witness. Just like the written contracts, oral contracts are considered legal and can be used in the court of law. The written document is particularly important and a requirement under the provisions of Statute of Frauds as provided for in Raymond William De Vries and Merlin Chenoweth v Steve Devenyns and Karen Devenyns12. In essence, it is a guarantee that the agreement actually occurred. In this regard, you can use this option to incorporate oral evidence in the documented evidence. You can pursue this by documenting the agreement that you had with the Chief Executive Officer about the naming of the facility and the naming ceremony. In this case, you can use your attorney as the witness because he knew about this agreement. You can then present this to the court as oral evidence and if it conforms to the preceding provisions, it would be accepted and enforced accordingly. Nonetheless, it would be difficult to convince the CEO to sign the document. Regardless of this, it is worth exploring the option. If successful, this would add weight on the current evidence and enable you to pursue the case with ease. Breach of Contract As aforementioned, there is a breach of contract in this scenario too. According to Verplanck (2006), this occurs when one party fails to execute exactly and precisely his or her obligations as indicated in the contract. It is an actual breach like that of Poussard v Spiers and Bettini v Gye as the executive fail to honor their obligations within the provided timeframe13. Initially, they did not begin building the facility within the required timeframe regardless of you having made the deposits in a timely manner. The good thing is that most of the expectations from the both of you are well outlined in the agreement. Signing the contract indicated that the executives from Integral Health Facility were committed to addressing the concerns. Since you are the innocent party in this case, the law gives you various options that you can explore. Since the contract has already been breached, you have a right to terminate it. This can be attained through different ways such as renunciation. The provisions of the fundamental breach alternative also provide useful insights especially considering that the contract was not totally performed. In this respect, the relative repudiatory breach does not allow you to terminate the contract promptly. Instead, it allows you to treat the respective contract as discharged and then sue for damages accordingly. Alternatively, you can just treat the respective contract as still valid and since you have already completed your side, sue for payment of damages from the other side. The implications of this are underscored in White and Carter Ltd V McGregor and Trans-state investments inc., v Julio Deive1415 Damages and Legal Implications Certainly, the Integral Health Facility has caused you unprecedented damages. Once you have terminated the contract, you can proceed to sue it for the damages caused. Legally, the law requires Integral health Facility to compensate you upon being found liable. To attain this, the court will need to show that you have actually suffered a loss and need t be compensated. In your case, the loss is reflected through the relative psychological problems, waste of time and loss of money in case this will not be returned to you. This will also apply to the initial case pertaining to fraud. Likewise, damages that have been caused would be determined and evaluated by the court16. Undeniably, you have encountered significant financial losses. Apart from the charitable donations, the legal fees you are paying to pursue the case are immense. All this will be reviewed by the courts and relevant action would be undertaken accordingly. Having been informed accordingly, you can proceed to making a decision you deem necessary. Bibliography Adams A, Law for Business Students. Sixth edition (Harlow, Essex: Pearson Education, 2010) Atiyah P, The Rise and Fall of Freedom of Contract (USA: Clanderon Press, 1979) Barnett R, Contracts. (USA: Aspen Publishers, 2003) Blum B, Contracts, examples and explanation (USA: Aspen Publishers, 2007). Eisenberg M, Gilbert Law Summaries: Contracts. (USA: Barbri Group, 2002) Fruehwald S, Reciprocal Altruism on the Basis for Contract, 47 University of Louisville law Review: 489, (2009) Liuzzo A, Essentials of Business Law (USA: Career Education, 2009) May, C and Ides A, Examples & Explanations: Constitutional law, national power and federalism (USA: Aspen Publishers, 2009) McKendrick E, Contract Law- Text, Cases and Materials (Oxford: University Press, 2005) Verplanck G, An essay on the doctrine of contracts: Being an inquiry how contracts are affected in law and morals, by concealment, error or inadequate price (USA: Lawbook Exchange Ltd, 2006). Read More