CAPITAL UNIVERSITY LAW SCHOOL - FALL 1998 CONTRACTS FINAL
PROF. JEFF FERRIELL
© Jeffrey T. Ferriell, 1998
Question I – 1 Hour – 33%
Limit Your Answer to 5 Pages in a Bluebook
After 4 years of service as a volunteer member of the German Village Community Board, Sally decided to consider running for an open position on the City Council. She called her friend Bob, whom she knew had actively supported other political candidates in past campaigns, and asked him what he thought.
Bob thought Sally would be a fine candidate for the open seat and told her so. During their conversation he said:
"You really helped me out last year when I was trying to get the renovations to my house approved by the Community Board. It would have cost me an extra $10,000 if you insisted on the changes they tried to force me to make. You’d be a fine addition to City Council. If you run, I’ll donate $15,000 to your campaign."
Sally replied:
"That’s super, Bob. You can be confident that if I decide to run, and if I’m elected, I’ll be sure to vote in support of that ordinance you proposed last year which would ban smoking in bars and restaurants in our city."
Bob replied: "I know you will, Sally – I hope you’ll run."
Encouraged by this commitment of support, Sally approached other prospective donors, advising each of them of Bob’s commitment to donate $15,000. Before long, she had obtained cash contributions of another $50,000, from other supporters, each of whom had made their promises because of Sally’s representation’s of Bob’s support.
With $50,000 in cash and $15,000 promised from Bob, Sally decided to run for office and held a press conference to declare her candidacy. When Bob found out, on the local TV news, he called Sally and told her: "I’m so glad you’ve decided to run – I’m going to send you a check next week for $25,000."
This was exactly what Sally needed to hear. With $75,000 in donations she could afford to purchase time for television ads throughout the campaign season, instead of running ads only during the last few days of the campaign.
She contacted KZDA and paid for $50,000 worth of TV ad time for the first 5 weeks of the campaign. She also reserved another $25,000 worth of time for the last 2 weeks before the election.
A few days later, and before Bob sent his check, a reporter asked Sally about her position on abortion. When Bob heard a report of Sally’s answer he called her up and told her that he was afraid he was going to have to renege on his promise of a campaign contribution.
Desperate to get some TV ads on the air during the last 2 weeks of the campaign, Sally borrowed $10,000 and ran some additional ads during the last 2 weeks of the campaign, but lost anyway.
ASSUME YOU REPRESENT SALLY'S CREDITORS WHO LOANED HER THE $10,000 -- DRAFT AN ESSAY ANALYZING THE PROSPECTS OF SALLY ENFORCING ALL OR PART OF BOB’S PROMISE TO DONATE $25,000 TO SALLY’S CAMPAIGN.
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