10. The Joker, a com edy writer, entered into a contract with the Riddler, a com
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Question
10. The Joker, a com edy writer, entered into a contract with the Riddler, a comedian. The contract provided that the Joker would provide the Riddler with a 15-minute monologue for his upcoming appearance on Comedy Hour and that the Riddler would pay Joker $250. All performers on Comedy Hour make $500 per appearance. As the Joker knows, the last time the Riddler appeared on Comedy Hour he was asked to make special guest appearances at three local comedy clubs using the same monologue. He earned a total of $750 for the three performances. Shortly before the Riddler was scheduled to appear on Comedy Hour, the Joker informed him that the was unable to provide the monologue. As a result, the Riddler was forced to cancel his appearance. The Riddler sued Joker for breach of contract and requested damages of $1,250. What will be the result?Explanation / Answer
This question goes to amount of damages for breach of contract.
Joker was offered $250, didn't perform. Loses $250.
Riddler offered $250, didn't get monologue, gets $250 back.
Unless Joker and Riddler agreed to liquidated damages or for some
consequential or special damages, the contract price is the maximum damages.
If Riddler had wanted to warn Joker of the potential downside of not having the monologue ready, he could have inserted consequential damages of $250 for each show missed within, say, a month. This would permit Joker to decide whether or not to take the risk, and whether he should have some "insurance" such as a backup writer. It would also permit Riddler to recover the lost appearance fees, knowing that he still has the money coming back (as damages) and can afford to start over with another writer, but is not out the money for the missed appearances.
Similarly, incidental damages are rarely included implicitly, so if Joker made preparations for doing the writing, and then didn't complete it, he gets to eat the costs. If Joker wanted to get a non-refundable fee for preparations, then he could have asked for it specifically and Riddler would have been on notice that he was going to lose that money even if the writing was not completed.
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