Construction Law Cases
Michael Sanchez NS4874 CMGT 3280-01 Homework #1
Slavin v. Borinstein (1994)
The issue in this case is between the plaintiff, Leon Slavin, and the defendant, Joan W. Borinstein. Slavin is suing Borinstein over a dispute that erupted over payments on a construction project that were not received; on a project Slavin was building for Borinstein. Borinstein and her people agreed to pay Slavin 10 percent of the cost on a house they wanted to build in Los Angles. They would make the payments in installments. Slavin began to not receive payment for the appellant; then Borinstein’s lawyer tried to modify the contract mid project, therefore trying to reduce the amount owed to Slavin. The two disagreed, initially, however eventually thought they had come to terms on a modification. Soon after Slavin began to not receive payments for the second time, therefore he halted construction. At the time he halted construction the balance reached around $300,000. The rules that were applied are Civil Code section 1697, Civil Code section 1580, Civil Code section 1581, and last Civil Code section 1584. Each rule played its own part in the case and determining the conclusion. Code 1697 states that oral contracts may be modified; this played a role by allowing the respondent to claim that his oral contract was altered. Code 1580 talks about consent and how it needs to be mutual among all parties. This contributed to the case because the court came to the conclusion that the oral modification was not valid because it was not mutual. Code 1581 is relevant to how consent is to be given and communicated among all the parties. Lastly code 1584 states if a party acts on a proposal or states they accept a proposal then the proposal is accepted. This code was important because even though the counter modification wasn’t considered accepted, the initial modification was still effective because after the offer, Slavin continued the project. This allowed for the court to come to a
Slavin v. Borinstein (1994)
The issue in this case is between the plaintiff, Leon Slavin, and the defendant, Joan W. Borinstein. Slavin is suing Borinstein over a dispute that erupted over payments on a construction project that were not received; on a project Slavin was building for Borinstein. Borinstein and her people agreed to pay Slavin 10 percent of the cost on a house they wanted to build in Los Angles. They would make the payments in installments. Slavin began to not receive payment for the appellant; then Borinstein’s lawyer tried to modify the contract mid project, therefore trying to reduce the amount owed to Slavin. The two disagreed, initially, however eventually thought they had come to terms on a modification. Soon after Slavin began to not receive payments for the second time, therefore he halted construction. At the time he halted construction the balance reached around $300,000. The rules that were applied are Civil Code section 1697, Civil Code section 1580, Civil Code section 1581, and last Civil Code section 1584. Each rule played its own part in the case and determining the conclusion. Code 1697 states that oral contracts may be modified; this played a role by allowing the respondent to claim that his oral contract was altered. Code 1580 talks about consent and how it needs to be mutual among all parties. This contributed to the case because the court came to the conclusion that the oral modification was not valid because it was not mutual. Code 1581 is relevant to how consent is to be given and communicated among all the parties. Lastly code 1584 states if a party acts on a proposal or states they accept a proposal then the proposal is accepted. This code was important because even though the counter modification wasn’t considered accepted, the initial modification was still effective because after the offer, Slavin continued the project. This allowed for the court to come to a