There are three essential elements for two or more parties entering into a contract. O`Flaherty Law`s experienced contract lawyers can advise you on the possibility of achieving your legal goals regarding breach of contract or performance of your contract against a person who claims to have been intoxicated as a defence. Call O`Flaherty Law and we will be happy to assist you with your contractual matter. Imagine waking up, spending the night before together and realizing you`ve signed up for your company or home. Companies that have hired sellers should be very careful, because earning a commission by convincing a drunk person to buy something has a bad stench. In addition, a drunk person may have legal claims against a company for unfair business practices if they are required to sign an agreement. From a legal point of view, each contract consists of an offer, the terms of the agreement, a meeting of the chiefs and a consideration so that the court can execute it if one of the parties sues the other. In such cases, it should be noted that the intoxicated party may not fully understand the terms of the agreement and therefore invalidate the contract. Therefore, the party may defend itself by invoking undue influence, coercion or misrepresentation.
This does not necessarily mean that a party can withdraw from the contract after signing while claiming to be intoxicated. Although after claiming to be weakened, it is not that the other party is defenseless. It is likely that the other party could also have suffered harm as a result of signing the contract. In such cases, the other party may assert “quasi-contractual claims” by stating that the contract was signed in good faith. People regularly make bad decisions when they are under the influence of alcohol. In some cases, a drunk person may sign a contract while under the influence, only to later regret the conclusion of the agreement. Fortunately, Florida law often grants recourse to people who sign a contract while drunk, and the first step to maximizing your chances of success in court is to hire a contract attorney in Fort Lauderdale to help you with your litigation. There was a piece of land that stretched over 471.6 acres, Ferguson Farm, which was owned by a married couple, the Zehmers.
A man named Mr. Lucy, an acquaintance of Mr. Zehmer, expressed interest in buying the farm for $20,000. Zehmer withdrew from the agreement after thinking about it. Later, during one of his excursions with Mr. Zehmer, Mr. Lucy approached him for the second time to buy the property for $50,000. After a few rounds of drinking, the two parties signed a contract that made Mr. Lucy the owner of the farm.
However, when it came to enforcing the contract, Mr. Zehmer reportedly joked when he agreed to sell the farm. It was then Mr. Lucy who decided to sue the other party and enforce the contract. The verdict was in favor of the plaintiff because the court and lawyers concluded that the defendant was not drunk enough to invalidate the contract. The question speaks for itself. If you have voluntarily fallen into a state of intoxication, you must assume that you will be held responsible for your actions while you were intoxicated. As a general rule, courts do not accept wilful intoxication solely as a defence to the formation or performance of a contract. A person cannot invoke his own “negligence” or “recklessness” to negate his legal obligation under a contract.
Being a regular drinker or drug user doesn`t mean you can`t make contracts. But you should only do this if you are sober. Consideration: The counterpart is the tipping point where the offer and acceptance become a contract, and it is the “negotiated exchange” that seals the agreement. There are a few specific defense mechanisms for contract formation. The simplest defense is that the contract is not taken into account, as explained above. If there is no negotiated exchange, there is no contract. Being a minor or suffering from a mental illness would mean that the party is unable to enter into a contract that is unable to understand what they are doing. If the casino customer can successfully invoke the speech of voluntary intoxication, the court will not ask the visitor to pay for the gambling chip he signed while drunk at the casino.