Clark v. West

193 N.Y 349, 86 N.E. 1 (1908)

Free access to 20,000 Casebriefs

Legal Analysis

Legal analysis from Dean's Law Dictionary will be displayed here.

Nature Of The Case

This section contains the nature of the case and procedural background.

Facts

P agreed to write a series of law books and was paid by D $3,000 per year to do so. The contract had an abstention agreement from intoxicating liquors, and the payment to P of any money in excess of $2 per page was dependent on the faithful performance of that as well as other conditions of the contract. P finished the work on Corporations, and it was 3,469 pages. D refused to pay P above the $2 per page rate because P did not abstain from intoxicating liquor. P claims that his use was not excessive and it did not interfere with the execution of the contract and that D had waived any objection by continuing to tell P that he was entitled to the extra $4 per page even though D knew that P was not abstaining. P sued for a breach of the contract in that D had the finished works copyrighted under the Corporate name and sought an accounting. Three questions were certified to the upper court. (1) Does the complaint state facts sufficient to constitute a cause of action? (2) Under the terms of the contract is P’s total abstinence from the use of liquors a condition precedent which can be waived so as to render D liable upon the contract notwithstanding P’s use of such liquors? (3) Does the complaint allege facts constituting a valid and effective waiver of P’s nonperformance of such a condition precedent?

Issues

The legal issues presented in this case will be displayed here.

Holding & Decision

The court's holding and decision will be displayed here.

© 2007-2025 ABN Study Partner

© 2025 Casebriefsco.com. All Rights Reserved.