Legal Question in Business Law in California

Cancelling international internet based contract

I hired a wedding planning company

in Italy that is a ''franchise'' per-se of

a US company based in Wyoming to

make arrangements for me. They

have been very difficult to deal with

and have not performed to my

expectations to the extent that I

have been forced to do most of the

planning myself. I gave them a 50%

deposit and am wondering if I'm

opening myself up to any legal

liability by cancelling the services

with them and not paying them the

remainder. Please note that its still

over 3 months before the actual

wedding date. To date all they have

done is booked the wedding location

and given me the run-around with

tons of email correpsondance. I

have a copy of the contract which is

only a couple of pages for review

should you be willing to respond to

this. This contract was never signed

merely agreed too via radio button

on the internet. Thanks in advance

for any advice!


Asked on 6/06/07, 2:19 am

2 Answers from Attorneys
Johm Smith tom's

Re: Cancelling international internet based contract

Button signatures are being enforced by the US courts. Our CA attorney can go over the contract and give you a legal opinion on your rights under the contract and whether you can terminate it now.

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Answered on 6/06/07, 10:32 am
Bryan Whipple Bryan R. R. Whipple, Attorney at Law

Re: Cancelling international internet based contract

I think the first questions that need to be answered are where would the contract be enforced (i.e., what court or court system could accept and try a lawsuit, if one were filed), and what law would be applied. The possibilities seem to be Wyoming, Italy and California. Some contracts (and most professionally-written ones) cover these subjects of jurisdiction and applicable law. If not, there is a body of law by which jurisdiction and applicable law are determined. If you sent the deposit to Italy, I think that's where you would have to sue to recover it. On the other hand, I'm less sure who can sue you, and where, for the balance due. To a large extent, the likelihood of a suit will depend upon jurisdiction and the amount involved. Intercontinental lawsuits are expensive. A full answer to your question would require a fair amount of research and thought.

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Answered on 6/06/07, 11:41 am


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