Legal Question in Business Law in California

For my son's youth football team I booked a banquet on behalf of the youth organization at a venue and was told the price would only be guaranteed if we had 150 people but I was honest with the owner and told her I would try and get that many but could possible be short, a deposit of $1000 was given. Two months before the event the date of the event was changed to 2weeks later to give us more time to get more parents to pay for the banquet. 3 weeks from the banquet I advised the owner that we would not be able to hold our event at her venue because we didn't get enough participation from the parents. The owner told me that was my problem and threaten to sue me for breach of contract. The contract states that you have 10 days from the date the contract is signed to cancel or you will be liable for the entire amount of the contract. I didn't read that correctly and thought I had 10 days before the date of the event to cancel. I understand that the deposit is lost but can I be sued for services not rendered, and since I was acting on behalf of the league am I liable or would the Football League be liable?


Asked on 1/14/14, 8:30 pm

1 Answer from Attorneys
Frank Natoli Natoli-Legal, LLC

This is a bit fact intensive. As noted, the deposit will be lost, but the courts are loathe to see someone unjustly enriched. That is, just because you breached does not mean that it becomes a windfall for them and of course why should they get paid for services they did not provide.

I will tell you some reasons why. Let's say that they had to forgo another perhaps even larger more lucrative engagement on account of your booking? What if they expended any time and resources in preparation for your event?

In most cases, it will be a very uphill battle and likely not worth their time and effort to pursue legal action for the full contract UNLESS they have real verifiable damages. But this does not mean that they cannot try and drag you into court anyway.

On that note, who is responsible? If you were acting with agency on behalf of the league ultimately they should be. But they may have a different opinion and if you were sued you may have to either join them in the suit or sue them in a separate indemnification action. The answer given this scenario will require some analysis.

It might be a good idea to at least chat with a lawyer so you can explore your options. If you would like to discuss further over a free phone consult, feel free to contact me anytime that is convenient.

Kind regards,

Frank

www.LanternLegal.com

866-871-8655

[email protected]

DISCLAIMER: this is not intended to be specific legal advice and should not be relied upon as such. No attorney-client relationship is formed on the basis of this posting.

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Answered on 1/15/14, 7:28 am


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