Gretchen, who lived in Calgary, entered into a contract with Matt, who lives in Edmonton. He paid $2500 to her at the outset and she promised that she would edit a book that he was in the process of writing. After completing slightly more than half of the job, however, Gretchen received an offer to act in a play on Broadway. Since acting had always been her dream, she pleaded with Matt to let her go to New York without finishing her project with him. She also pleaded with him to let her retain the $2500 that she had received from him because she needed a great deal of money to make the move. Since he was fond of Gretchen, Matt agreed. She then sold almost all of her belongings, including her computer, and moved to New York. A week later, however, Matt changed his mind when he learned that Gretchen was acting in Cats, a Broadway production that he disliked very much. Will Matt suceed in making Gretchen fulfill the rest of her contractural obligations? 

 

Issue

The primary issue is whether Matt has the legal grounds to demand that Gretchen stops acting in Cats, a Broadway production that he disliked very much to go back in working on the project.

Another issue is whether when Matt agreed Gretchen to go to New York, it meant that the terms of the contract were altered.

Rules

According to contract laws, oral agreements are enforceable as long as there is evidence to prove a contract was entered.

All parties to a valid contract must fulfill their contractual obligations unless the contract is varied or modified.

The legal methods of varying a contract include unilateral variation (like in employment contracts), variation by conduct (like failing to meet deadlines and new terms automatically are implemented), oral variation, and written variation.

Step-by-step explanation

Issue

The primary issue is whether Matt has the legal grounds to demand that Gretchen stops acting in Cats, a Broadway production that he disliked very much to go back in working on the project.

Another issue is whether when Matt agreed Gretchen to go to New York, it meant that the terms of the contract were altered.

Rules

According to contract laws, oral agreements are enforceable as long as there is evidence to prove a contract was entered.

All parties to a valid contract must fulfill their contractual obligations unless the contract is varied or modified.

The legal methods of varying a contract include unilateral variation (like in employment contracts), variation by conduct (like failing to meet deadlines and new terms automatically are implemented), oral variation, and written variation.

Application

By applying the rules of a contract, Matt agreed to change the terms of the contract by allowing Gretchen to leave without finishing the project.

Under normal conditions, abandoning the project halfway would mean termination of the contract and Gretchen would have violated the terms of the agreement.

As such, Gretchen acted in good faith by talking to Matt and requesting that she allow her to move to New York without finishing the project. Matt agreed to the request and Gretchen further asked that he allows her to keep the initial payment of $2500 because she was in dire need of money. Matt also agreed to this request.

At this point, it appears that the two parties had agreed to terminate the contract in a mutual agreement. When the parties agreed to end the contract, both of them were of sound mind and there is no evidence to suggest either of them was coerced, manipulated, threatened, or forced to end the agreement.

If the parties had continued with the original terms of the contract, the contract would have ended when Gretchen finished working on the project and handed it over to Matt.

However, based on these facts, Gretchen and Matt mutually agreed to modify the terms of the contract and terminate it without Gretchen completing the project.

Therefore, there is no contract between Matt and Gretchen.

Conclusion

Based on the facts and analysis above, there is no contract between Matt and Gretchen as they both agreed to mutually terminate the contract hence Matt will not succeed in making Gretchen fulfill the rest of her contractual obligations.