Wood v. Lucy, Lady Duff-Gordon
Wood v. Lucy, Lady Duff-Gordon | |
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William H. Cuddeback, Benjamin N. Cardozo, Frederick E. Crane, Chester B. McLaughlin, William Shankland Andrews | |
Case opinions | |
Majority | Cardozo, joined by Cuddeback, Mclaughlin, Andrews |
Dissent | (without separate opinions) Hiscock, Chase, Crane |
Wood v. Lucy, Lady Duff-Gordon, 222 N.Y. 88, 118
Facts
Wood then appealed to the Court of Appeals of New York, the highest court in the state, which then considered whether an agreement with a promise not expressly stated might still require performance of that promise given the context of the agreement.
Judgment
The Court, in an opinion by Judge Benjamin N. Cardozo, made new law by determining that a promise to exclusively represent the interests of a party constituted sufficient consideration to require enforcement of an unstated duty to use reasonable efforts based on that promise.[2] Cardozo wrote of the arrangement that "[a] promise may be lacking, and yet the whole writing may be 'instinct with an obligation,' imperfectly expressed."[3]"The acceptance of the exclusive agency," he found, "was an assumption of its duties."[4]
He stated, "the law has outgrown its primitive stage of formalism when the precise word was the sovereign talisman...it takes a broader view today."
See also
- US contract law
- English contract law
- Brand ambassador
Footnotes
- ^ Wood v. Lucy, Lady Duff-Gordon, 177 A.D. 624 (New York Supreme Court, Appellate Division, First Department April 20, 1917).
- ^ Wood v. Lucy, Lady Duff-Gordon, 222 N.Y. 88 (Dec. 4, 1917).
- ^ Wood v. Lucy, Lady Duff-Gordon, 222 N.Y. 88, 91 (Dec. 4, 1917).
- ^ Wood v. Lucy, Lady Duff-Gordon, 222 N.Y. 88, 91 (Dec. 4, 1917).
- ^ Wood v. Lucy, Lady Duff-Gordon, 222 N.Y. 88, 91 (Dec. 4, 1917).
External links
- Wood v. Duff-Gordon 222 N.Y. 88, 118 N.E. 214 (New York 1917); full text of the opinion, with reporter's summary, and the arguments and cases presented by the attorneys for each party.
- ContractsProf Blog: Today in History: Wood v. Lucy, Lady Duff Gordon
- Some interesting facts of the case from Kent Law professor, Richard Warner
- Case Brief for Wood v. Lucy, Lady Duff-Gordon at Lawnix.com