Alabama Breach Of Contract Legal Questions

Hello, Not sure from your situation if a lawsuit has already been filed against you, or if you have been served with a lawsuit, or if judgment has already been entered. I am not licensed in your state, so I cannot provide you with specific legal advise for your situation. However, I would urge you to act immediately and seek legal counsel to assist you in making a decision.  Here in Kansas, when someone is seeking bankruptcy it is not uncommon for the bankruptcy attorney to reach out the attorney for the creditor to let them know what is going on or file an answer to the lawsuit prior to judgment being entered. With the goal of providing additional time to get a bankruptcy completed.  Or a bankruptcy or another attorney could be of help in negotiating  on your behalf.  ... Read More

That depends on the parties' agreement.  Here, it doesn't seem as if you ever discussed the issue.  In my opinion, unless the parties specifically agreed otherwise, the obvious understanding was that the deposit was nonrefundable, because what was the purpose of the deposit if it was intended to be refunded if the buyer backed out?  However, a court may disagree and may find tha thte deposit was intended to be refundable, particularly if it is customary where you live that such deposits are considered refundable.... Read More

If you can't travel to Alabama, you will have to sue him in Florida (absent a default, you're going to have to go to court to testify to prove your case), but it is not clear that Florida would have any basis to exercise jurisdiction over him, that depends on whether and to what extent he has any contacts with Florida, e.g. does he own any property there, visit often, do any work there, etc.  Small claims courts are normally courts of limited jurisdiction in which you can't sue an out of state resident so, unless the Florida small claims courts are different (call the court to ask), you would have to sue him in a court of general jurisdiction.  One other possibility is if you have somebody in Alabama who would want to buy your claim, but you would still probably have to go to court to testify.... Read More

The first problem is that your contract may have been required to be in writing to be enforceable, as the Uniform Commercial Code, which Alabama has adapted, requires that all contracts for the sale of goods valued at over $500 must be in writing.  There are exceptions to this rule which are too numerous and complex to go into here, but it could be a problem. Second, assuming that you can prove that you had an agreement that your friend was not allowed to sell the horses but rather was required to return them to you if he/she ever decided to get rid of them (you weren't going to pay anything for them?), you still can't enforce that contract against the buyer unless the buyer knew or had reason to know of your rights.  Absent such knowledge, the buyer is what is known as a bona fide purchaser for value, and he/she now holds superior title to the horses.  You may be able to sue your friend for any damages you sustained from your friend's breach of contract, but you can't recover the horses from an innocent third party who paid for them in good faith.... Read More

Did the defendant object to the juror being empaneled?  If not, he/she has probably waived his/her right to object now.  If so, however, and the Judge overruled the objection, the defendant can appeal his/her conviction.  Also, the new evidence discovered after the trial (the juror seen consoling members of the victim's family) might be a basis to vacate the judgment without need of an appeal, but I'm not confident that argument would succeed.... Read More

From what you've written, your developer did not commit fraud, he breached your contract.  If you can prove that the developer knew that he was not going to perform the contract at the time when he entered into it, you may be able to make out a fraud claim, but such a claim is very  unlikely to succeed.  You can sue for breach of contract.... Read More

Unless your employer is discriminating on the basis of gender, race, religion, or some other prohibited basis, he/she/it has no obligation to offer the same terms of employment to every employee.  None of the facts you've stated look to be a basis for voiding the non-compete. However, employee non-compete agreements are not always, or even usually, completely enforceable.  Whether the one you signed is  enforceable likely depends on a whole host of factors you haven't mentioned - how long is the non-compete?  how wide a geographical area does it cover?  do you have special and unique skills?  did your employer spend a lot of money and/or time to train you?  are there a lot of salons in the area?  did you receive any additional compensation, beyond just getting the job, for signing the non-compete?  Etc., etc., etc.... Read More

 I do not practice in Oklahoma, but I have handled cases in more than a dozen jurisdictions, and I don't know of any that require that a contract be notarized, although it might be necessary for prenuptial agreements, separation agreements, etc.  Some documents, like deeds and wills, neither of which is a contract, require more formalities, but witnesses are generally enough.  Many contracts are not even required to be in writing.  Again, I don't specifically know about Oklahoma, but I'd be surprised if notarization was required. ... Read More

There is a statute of limitations on breach of contract, however it can sometimes be extended.  I don't know the specific Alabama statute of limitations, but in general 20 years is way beyond the SOL for either breach of contract or fraud.  In some cases, the statute of limitations runs from when you discovered, or reasonably should have discovered, your claim, but from what you've written, it appears that you knew about your claim long ago.  It also does not seem as if your ex-boyfriend misrepresented something to you which caused you to delay filing suit.  In some states, an acknowledgement of a debt revives the limitations period, but usually that requires a written acknowledgement; I don't know whether the taped acknowledgement might be good enough in Alabama.  Also, t is possible that, in some states, the limitations period may be extended during the period when your ex was hiding.  I believe that criminal limitations periods can be extended during a time when a suspect is hiding and/or is out of state, so that even if you are beyond the limitations period for civil claims, you may be able to get your local district attorney to press charges.... Read More

If I understand your question, you are saying that you were awarded a share of the equity in your former marital home several years ago, but the home remained titled in your ex-husband's name and has since been foreclosed upon. If you were awarded a specific amount, it should not matter what happened to the house after judgment.  If, for example, the Court awarded you $50,000, your husband would be obligated to pay you that money, even if the house had deteriorated in value after the judgment.  The problem is that, although you may be entitled to the money, he may not be financially able to pay, given that his home has been foreclosed. If you were awarded a percentage, however, to be collected upon sale of the home, you might have a bigger problem, since the home will not generate any revenue to be divided.  However, you might still be able to collect if you can show that the home was foreclosed due to your ex-husband's wrongful actions.  In other words, if you can show that your ex-husband did not do what he was supposed to (whether it be put the house on the market earlier, make the mortgage payments, etc.), and that if he had done what he was supposed to, the house would not have been foreclosed and you would have been able to collect some money from its sale, you may be able to get a judgment against your ex-husband for the amount you lost.  This may be very difficult to prove, however, and you still may have the problem that your ex may not have enough money to pay the debt. Also, given that the house was foreclosed 2 years ago, you may have a problem with the statute of limitations.  You probably still have time to sue, but I am not familiar with the limitations periods in Alabama, and it would be wise not to dawdle if you decide to sue.... Read More

Probably  You can condition your transfer on receiving payment by a certain date (although a better way would probably have been to have the deed held in escrow pending receipt of the money; you may have had problems if you had ever needed to prove the condition in court since it did not appear in deed itself but only in the cover letter), and you could have demanded the deed back when you were not paid, and you could have refused to accept late payment, but once you accepted the late payment you waived the breach.... Read More