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Difficulty: HardLaw of Contract: Discharge, Vitiating Elements, and Remedies for Breach

A building contractor agrees to construct a commercial cold room facility for a food processing firm. After completing approximately 60% of the construction strictly according to the agreed specifications, the food processing firm wrongfully repudiates the contract and orders the contractor off the site. If the contractor chooses not to sue for total breach of contract damages but instead seeks payment for the proportion of work already executed, which legal remedy should the contractor claim?

  1. Quantum meruitAnswer
  2. B
    Specific performance
  3. C
    Injunction
  4. D
    Rescission

Answer

Quantum meruit is the appropriate remedy because it compensates the injured party for the actual value of work performed up to the point of wrongful repudiation.
Quantum meruit (meaning 'as much as he has earned') is a remedy available when an innocent party has performed part of an entire contract and is wrongfully prevented from completing the rest by the other party. The innocent party is entitled to recover reasonable payment for the portion of work already completed.

Step-by-Step Solution

1
Analyze the nature of the breach and the contractor's performance status.
The contractor has completed 60% of the work, and the employer committed a breach by wrongfully repudiating the contract.
Determining whether performance was partial and who caused the interruption establishes the legal grounds for remedies.
2
Identify the legal claim corresponding to recovery for partial performance.
The contractor seeks compensation strictly for the portion of work executed rather than full expectation damages.
When full performance is prevented by the defendant, the innocent party can sue on a quantum meruit basis ('as much as he has earned').
3
Evaluate why alternative judicial remedies do not fit the specific relief requested.
Specific performance and injunctions are equitable enforcement mechanisms, and rescission unwinds contracts, none of which provide earned monetary restitution.
Matching the factual demand of earned monetary payment eliminates non-monetary or equitable remedies.

Key Concept

Quantum Meruit as a Remedy for Breach of Contract
Estimated Time:1m 30s
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Topics

Law of Contract: Discharge, Vitiating Elements, and Remedies for Breach

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