Paralegal Helen Davis greeted them after they talked to the attorney.
June stated:“We are supposed to tell you basically what happened. The guy, Leo, owner of River Way Construction of Your Town, Your State, USA, said he would re-roof our one-story house for a lower price than what anyone else bid. We showed him a bid from Rite Fix Construction and that was what we thought was a good bid, but he seemed to study if for a while and smile. We didn’t know why he smiled, but we think we do now!”
Helen, “What happened?”
Ron, “Leo said he and his River Way crew would do the roof for exactly $6,500, which was $800 less than the Rite Fix written bid. A neighbor witnessed this statement and that he was looking at the Rite Fix bid when he said it. The Rite Fix bid included soffits and fascia.”
June, “Anyway, we are not satisfied about how this worked when we saw how he did it. The roof is not just exactly what we wanted and the soffits and fascia were not done, unlike the other contractor’s written bid. We should have had him do his own bid, but he just started work right away and we were so busy, we forgot. Trusting, I guess. So, what do we have to do?”
Helen stated, “I am here to gather information, not to give advice. I will report to the lawyer, Bridget Johnson, and make a new appointment for you to visit Ms. Johnson about this.”
They went on, both talking at once, but what they stated was roughly this:
The soffits and fascia are not done and he won’t come back and do them. Helen, “What about the roof? Was a good steel roof put on?”“Yes.”“Was it about the same quality?”“Yes.”Ron, “We aren’t paying the labor and materials invoice he sent. We forget which is soffits and which is fascia, but they are below the roof and we wanted them done at the time the roof was done.”
June, “Or, anyway, even if not, it is what he said he would do. Well, he said “roof” but he meant to match the bid, but at a lower cost. The first lawyer we talked to, on the phone, not in person, said we had a case, but didn’t take the case, so I suppose that’s no good, anyway.”
Ron, “Our neighbor Dan Webster was with us for the whole time we talked to Leo, so I am guessing he might be a kind of witness, but he didn’t sign as a witness, just heard it all.
So, does that count? Never, mind, you said the lawyer has to decide. I see you are ready to ask for more, but we have to run.Bye.”
June, “By the way, Leo left a major mess for like two weeks before he cleaned up. The bid from the other guy said the mess would be removed in one week or less.”
Based on the client interview about an oral contract, complete the following:
In your own words, why might an attorney recommend that an oral contract be put in writing even when an oral one is valid and there are plenty of witnesses to the terms? Use the lesson notes. Comment personally on the transcript of the client interview. How do you feel about the way Helen, the paralegal, did this interview? What would you change?
If you were the interviewer, would you use a printed intake form and mark with handwriting? What other method might you use to make notes?
Recommend three, open-ended questions to ask the client at a follow up interview and two questions asking for documents.
Based only on what you know so far, was the oral agreement based on a complete offer or incomplete offer? Argue both sides, based on the lesson notes. Specify areas of uncertainty.
Sample Solution