I need help Critique this case

I need help Critique this case

On May 1, 1995, the famed Boston rock and roll club Euphoria
burned to the ground. Luckily, the fire began at 2:00 a.m. and no
one was injured. The highly anticipated and sold out May 2, 1995,
concert of the New York rock group Zephyr was cancelled by Jack
Owens, the owner of Euphoria.Owens received significant insurance payments following the fire
that destroyed Euphoria. Owens also received and rejected numerous
offers to rent space for the May 2, 1995 Zephyr concert.A major dispute between Zephyr and Owens erupted when the May 2,
1995, concert was cancelled. This concert was the first in the
“World Tour” of Zephyr, a rising alternative band that had its
first hit in 1994 with its Gone Like the Wynd album. Owens refused
to pay Zephyr its demand for full payment of the written contract
performance fee in the amount of $55,000 for the cancelled concert.
The contract provided for liquidated damages of $25,000 to Owens if
Zephyr did not show but was silent on any cancellation contingency
by Owens. In four years of work Zephyr had cancelled five concerts
previously. Zephyr had played to a sold-out Euphoria audience once
in 1994.On May 7, 1995, Lynne Mann, attorney for Owens, contacted Zephyr
and presented the group’s lawyer-agent, Sam Sharp, with a four-page
legal memo that concluded that “there was no obligation of Owens to
pay one cent to Zephyr.” The letter cited Massachusetts cases that
had held that a contract lacking a cancellation provision could not
be construed to provide cancellation damages and that performance
had become impracticable. Mann visited Sharp’s hotel room
unannounced, gave him the legal memo, and said “In spite of this we
feel sorry for Zephyr and want to pay them for their trouble –
$5,000.” Sharp’s reply was to bark “Holy _. You guys are in
dreamland. You screw up our first gig – the world tour – and expect
us to get nothing out of it. Get lost.” Sharp held open the door
and Mann quickly left the room.A few days later the band instructed Sharp “to file suit or
negotiate with Owens to make the band whole.” The band members feel
that their tour was set back badly at its start by Owens’ refusal
to arrange an alternative Boston location for the concert. The
tour’s end was designed to occur at the time of the release of
Zephyr’s second album.A few days later Mann called Sharp. She “apologized for leaving
the hotel room so quickly.” She “offered to pay the Zephyr $15,000
to settle all claims relating to the cancellation of the concert.”
Sharp’s reaction was to say “You’ve got to be kidding . . . .
$15,000 is a drop in the bucket compared to what we’re going to get
in court” and quickly hang up.The next day Sharp filed a suit on behalf of Zephyr against
Owens alleging breach of contract. Damages of $575,000 were
alleged. Most of the damages were for lost profits over and above
the concert performance fee. Mann then called to request a
negotiation session with Sharp. She urged Sharp to “try to expand
the pie and get beyond money in the solution of this problem.” They
met later that week. Sharp began by urging Mann to “start the
negotiation game.” Mann declined, saying “I’ve already made you an
offer.” Sharp responded by saying “Alright, I’ll start, we want
$575,000 representing lost profits from possible record sales from
the Euphoria publicity and the base contract damages.” Mann
responded with “Wow. You can’t be serious. The contract damages
were only $55,000.” Sharp stated that “the Euphoria gig is
traditionally important to any band and a real dealmaker for record
companies and writers from Rolling Stone … O.K., we can take
$400,000.” At this point Lynne Mann said, “I’m speechless with your
unrealistic attitude” and was silent for a full one minute. When
Sharp failed to respond, Lynne asserted that “maybe court is where
we belong” and left the room.

Is this the question you were looking for? If so, place your order here to get started!