Legal Question in Technology Law in California

Re: Software company lied and breeched a contract

Reviewing the e-mails and documents would help, but at least as you describe the facts you probably have a case. You should retain an attorney to give you specific advice on how to proceed.

Re: Software company lied and breeched a contract

Sounds like a good case to me.

While it is generally true that only authorized representatives can contract on behalf of a business, there is also the doctrine of "ostensible authority", which holds companies to the bargains made by even unauthorized representatives so long as the company has -- through action or omission -- allowed the other contracting party to believe that the representative has such authority. Assuming the person who sold you the software actually was the V.P. for sales, then the company would likely be hard-pressed to explain why you should not have believed he was authorized to sign contracts.

Then there is the doctrine of "acceptance by ratification," which holds parties (whether individual, corporate, governmental or what have you) to contracts where there was neither actual nor ostensible authority to contract for them, provided that the party subsequently accepts the benefits of the contract with full knowledge of what the contract required it to do in return. By repeatedly deducting your monthly payments from your bank account, it seems rather likely to me that the company has at least ratified the agreement.

You should talk to an attorney about this case in more detail, but as I said it sounds like a good one to me. You should feel free to contact me if you want to discuss the matter further.

Re: Software company lied and breeched a contract

To answer your question whether you have a case, based on the information you provided, the answer is yes.

There are several potential legal issues that arise. However, the most important, I believe, are the facts that you paid and they received the benefits from the contract.

It sounds to me like they were happy to make the contract at the time. But, now that the licenses appear to be so much more valuable than envisioned at the time, they want to be the ones to reap the benefit.

This is a case where you definitely want to have a sit down or talk over the phone with an attorney. I would also like to see the correspondence/emails and contract that you signed.

I'd be happy to discuss the matter with you and review your materials. You can email me at [email protected] or contact me:

J. Caleb Donner

LEGAL WARRIORS (R)

DONNER & DONNER

Attorneys at Law

805-494-6557

www.donnerlaw.com

email: [email protected]

Re: Software company lied and breeched a contract

If the information you provided is supported by the emails and facsimile documents you described, there is a good chance you have a good case. I suggest you contact a qualified attorney in your area for a free intial phone/in-person consultation. The attorney will likely need to look at the documents you have and get a full history of the events to determine if a contract was in fact made.

Feel free to contact me for follow up if you like.