Discussion of case involving Statute of Frauds.
When a case is presented in a trial court the judge enters an order. Any party that is unhappy with the judgment may appeal and present the transcript from the trial and describe errors the party claims caused the judgment to be unfair to the appellate court. This case was tried in Austin and appealed to the Court of Appeals in Austin, the Third Circuit, which published the opinion.
Mr. Joseph had a house for sale and the James made an offer to buy it through their agent Mr. Cussimanio. The offer was rejected but a counteroffer with a higher price was made. Mr. Cussimanio sent an email and the contract without the James’ initials on the changes to Mr. Joseph’s agent Ms. Griffith. The James refused to complete the purchase of the home and Mr. Joseph sued them, Mr. Cussimanio and his sponsoring broker Mr. Bullara. A summary judgment was granted determining that there was no breach of contract because the writings did not comply with the Statute of Frauds. A judge can enter a summary judgment when the facts are not disputed but the parties interpret the application of the law differently. Here Joseph thought the written contract was binding. The Josephs asserted that it did not comply with the Statute of Frauds because they had not signed it after changes were made on it. Read the case on the link provided and answer the following questions.
Here is the link to the Court’s opinion:
http://www.search.txcourts.gov/SearchMedia.aspx?MediaVersionID=151259db-5852-4cc3-ab49-04673c39ad43