Case Study:

Brian McDonald spent his time away from work on his hobby, model trains. His train set was large and consisted of rare and one-of-a-kind trains. One day, while visiting with fellow train hobbyist Harry, Brian said, “When I retire in 2 years from Foodmart, I’m going to sell my trains and spend the rest of my life traveling on real trains.” Brian told Harry that he was the only person he planned to offer his trains to, because he knew Harry would take care of them. Harry said he looked forward to the day when he could buy the trains. Harry spent the next 2 years and most of his savings building a new 2,000-square foot room onto his house to make room for the trains. When Harry told Brian he was building the new room, Brian just smiled. Brian also heard that Harry borrowed money from his aunt to buy the trains. When Brian retired, he sold his trains to his neighbor, James. Harry sued Brian, claiming breach of contract. Who wins? Explain your answer.

In any court of law they will be first discussing what type of contract this falls into. Was this an express or implied-in-fact contract? Was this a legal contract and does Harry even have a case that would support him for a breach of contract? According to Cheeseman (2010), an express contract is an “agreement that is express in written or oral words “(pg. 159). The discussion between plaintiff Harry and defendant Brian was that Brian had suggested that the “only person he planned to offer his trains to,” was Harry. The key word used was the word, offer; However, Brian never offered them to Harry with even a price. The contract in this case would not fall into an express contract because there was no oral or written words stating a promise to sell.
The next contract to decide upon is if it is an implied-in-fact contract? According to Cheeseman (2010), an implied-in-fact contract is an