Breaching the Contract Agreement - Assignment Example

Name Tutor Course 3rd July, 2009 Harrison S. E. Law Firm 14 Varick Street 10th Floor New York, NY 10034 Mr. Bill Brothers 361 Richmond Road, Cambridge, Victoria, 3010. Dear Mr. Brothers: Following your accusations by the Cambridge Cheetahs Board regarding your actions on July 18 2009, the Harrison S. E. Law Firm indicates the following. According to the Cambridge Cheetahs law of conduct, any detrimental gestures or statements displayed in public(print, electronic media or radio) and directed to any players, match officials or any Australian Football Club policy decisions is illegal and not allowed. The contract of agreement between you, the Cambridge Cheetahs Australian Football Club and the Australian Football League requires each player to comply with all regulations and rules including the above law of conduct, this is according to clause number 8.3. Based on this code of conduct and clause, it is very likely that Cambridge Cheetahs will take action against what they may refer to as a detrimental gesture that is against their code of conduct. Flipping the middle finger, a supposed detrimental gesture, is likely to be punishable through contract termination whereby the name of the player is deleted from the Australian Football club list. Your action will be regarded as a breach of contract. Another penalty for this offence would be denial of payment whereby Australia Football League withholds a given amount of your pay. By definition a contract is a verbal or written legally binding document or agreement between various parties. A contract breach takes place when one contract party makes it difficult for the other to effectively perform or when the party breaks the terms, regulations and rules spelled out by the contract. The particular party acts in a way that is against the contract aim and intent. The non breaching individual or party is allowed to sue for any contract damages or performance. Most material breaches end up in lawsuits and other punitive actions being taken against the relevant party (Barron's Educational Series 323). Clause 14 (default and Termination) allows a player’s termination of contract in the instance that the player’s breach of contract and any of the obligations entitled to him through the contract continues twenty days after a written notice by Australia Football League. This means that a player is entitled to a twenty eight day prior notice before any form of punitive action is taken. This clause hence gives you as the player, a basis on which you can prevent the Australia Football League from terminating or even suspending your contract (Ribeiro 46). The fact that Cambridge Cheetahs finds you as the player guilty of breaching the Australia Football League code of conduct by flipping your middle finger at the cameras and that Cambridge Cheetah board finds it offensive, the player however insists that the gesture was not aimed at the player, match officials or policy decision makers but at a mate who was a free lancer cameraman. The two parties disagree on who was being targeted by the player’s actions. Clause 17.2 talks about grievance tribunal that advocates for the court or grievance tribunal to solve any form of dispute between a player and the Australian Football League or the Australian Football League club. This gives the player a chance to air out his reasons or explanations for acting in a specific way and to prove his innocence. By hiring a well qualified lawyer you should not have any problem in presenting viable arguments of your case. The lawyer should be well experienced in handling contract disputes and well knowledgeable in the law of the state within which the contract was written. In situations where a party is found to be wrongly accused, then restitution or reformation may occur. Restitution is the process of recapturing the benefits conferred on a defendant through which he or she has been enriched unjustly. In reformation the contract is redone to reflect a party’s true intents. Though breaching a contract is always seen as an offence that can only be formally sorted by the law courts, it can always be done informally and without having the affected party filing a law suit against the other (Burrows 542). In your case Bill, AFL club may decide to informally sort out your case out side the courts by discussing the incidents without necessarily having to involve the law. You are mandated to tell your own side of the story and opinion. Binding arbitration and mediator review are ways in which an informal settlement can be done. These procedures however require one to have an ample knowledge about ones rights. During mediator reviews all parties allow the mediator to go through the various facts regarding the case and later give a relevant verdict that is not necessarily binding but which prevents the case from moving into the courts. Binding arbitration allows all parties to agree to the decision made by the mediator. Here the decision is binding. The parties are allowed to all present their cases just like in a court of law (Pogue 730). It is good to note that these two processes require a lawyer to act as a guide and instructor. Another way through which the parties can resolve the breach case is by adopting a rescission. This is an action that aims at canceling out a given contract and returning the parties to the initial positions that they occupied before the transaction (Adamson 194). However, this direction cannot be taken since the Cambridge Cheetahs are not willing to negotiate any of the terms and the conditions of the contract they offered Bill. Since this has been in part of the agreement that no event would lead to re-negotiation of the terms and condition of the contract, this gives you an advantage over the Cambridge Cheetahs. The condition where the contract of agreement cannot be renegotiated even when part of the contract has been violated gives rise to an event referred to as undue influence (Waddams 69). According to the online Encyclopedia Britannica undue influence is defined as the jurisprudence doctrine under which a contract or a will cannot be broken or whereby the two parties cannot enter into a bargain once the contract is signed. In view of this perspective one side is advantaged at the expense of the other. Clearly in this perspective you are the beneficiary of the undue influence at the expense of the Cambridge Cheetahs. This is a very good chance that you can use to solve the matter now that you are assured that neither your salary nor your duration of the contract will be affected by the disputed action. To begin with you have to be aware of how to use the concept of undue influence. Just as your lawyer should be aware, this situation is far from being an actual undue influence situation. Actual undue influence is a condition whereby the claimant and the complainant are in dispute over the actual contract signed and one party feels that he has been short changed by the contents of the contract. The kind of undue influence that arises in here is called the presumed undue influence (Duhaime para. 3). In this case the complainant who is the Cambridge Cheetahs is aware that relationships of trust between you and him and loyalty to the contract have been in existence prior to you performing the disputed action of shoving the middle finger in front of the camera. With this realization you as the complainant can then use it to boldly argue your case out knowing that suppose you lose out the case and however much you could be fined by the Australian Football League your career with the Cambridge Cheetahs is still defined by the contract. Using the presumed undue contract to your advantage will not be a problem with the Cambridge Cheetahs Football Club since the not willing to undertake a rescission. The presumed undue influence should therefore form the basis of your bargaining power and you attempt at cleansing your tainted image. Since you are the weaker party being coerced by a stronger party over your actions, you should through your lawyer prove your righteousness beyond doubt. Further you need to remember that the Cambridge Cheetahs are unwilling to renegotiate over the terms of the contract. This awareness put you at an advantage since the Australia Football League is likely to impose you a harsh penalty that will go against the wishes of you football club. In a view of this the penalty which could be imposed by the disciplinary committee, if your lawyer fails to prove your case otherwise, may be predetermined by your previous conduct since you were signed by the Cambridge Cheetahs. Your lawyer at this point should show that you were able to serve previous penalties remorsefully and that you had become a transformed player and therefore such an action must not be used wrongly to convict you. On the same note, your lawyer should express your grievances from the basis that since you are an ex-convict of soccer regulations, you are likely to be put on much focus such that you are answerable for every little action you commit. The laws should apply to all players uniformly irrespective of whether one has a poor record of conduct in the field or off the field (Powlowski & Brown 189). Therefore one unintended action is not sufficient to earn you another harsh penalty just however bad your past record could be. You could enlist the help of the Australia Soccer Players Association to represent you in the case. This association may help you in fighting for this unfair criticism (Dabscheck 38). The fact that you have remained clean and in your best behavior after your previous suspension is a good basis to prove your innocence and to also prove that your actions towards the camera are not in any way whatsoever aimed at the players, the fans or match officials. Australian Football League should not base their argument and decision on your past mistakes while playing for East Coast Falcons and your one year termination from the club. Before signing a contract with the Cambridge Cheetahs, a verbal agreement was made regarding the club’s zero tolerance to bad behavior in public and especially under the influence of alcohol or drugs. This is an agreement that you have diligently kept. Proving that your actions on 18th July were not under the influence of drugs or even alcohol and hence does not deserve any penalization could also be another way to argue out your case. As a conclusion we could say that the AFL and Cambridge Cheetahs soccer club may find you guilty of breaching the contract agreement. This does not however mean that you will be found guilty. All you need is knowledgeable lawyer who will guide you through all the necessary procedures. Your explanation on the intentions of your gestures is going to be a strong basis for your argument. Yours Sincerely, Harrison S.E Works Cited Adamson, J.E. Law for Business and Personal Use. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2005. Barron's Educational Series Inc. Law Dictionary, 2003. Burrows, A. Remedies for Torts and Breach of Contract. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2006. Pogue, R.W. Inducing Breach of Contract: Attorney-Client Contingent Fee Contract. Michigan: Michigan Law Review Association, 1952. Ribeiro, R. Damages and Other Remedies for Breach of Contract. UK: Thorogood Publishers, 2005. Encyclopedia Britannica. 2009. Undue Influence. Encyclopedia Britannica Online. 03 Aug. 2009 . Waddams, S. The Law of Contracts. Toronto: Canada Law Book, 200, 369-371. Duhaime, L. Undue Influence. 03 Aug. 2009 Read More