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    Specific Performance

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    Aye Alexa
    This case involved a singer (Df) who contracted to perform exclusively at one theater (P's theater) for 3 months but then agreed to perform at another theater instead. P sued seeking an injunction. The lower court and Chancery court both found that an injunction could be granted to enforce the negative covenant in the contract that the singer would not perform elsewhere during the contracted period. While specific performance of the positive covenant to perform could not be enforced, the negative covenant to not perform elsewhere could be enforced through an injunction.

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    Specific Performance

    Uploaded by

    Aye Alexa
    400 views3 pages
    This case involved a singer (Df) who contracted to perform exclusively at one theater (P's theater) for 3 months but then agreed to perform at another theater instead. P sued seeking an injunction. The lower court and Chancery court both found that an injunction could be granted to enforce the negative covenant in the contract that the singer would not perform elsewhere during the contracted period. While specific performance of the positive covenant to perform could not be enforced, the negative covenant to not perform elsewhere could be enforced through an injunction.

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    This case involved a singer (Df) who contracted to perform exclusively at one theater (P's theater) for 3 months but then agreed to perform at another theater instead. P sued seeking an injunction. The lower court and Chancery court both found that an injunction could be granted to enforce the negative covenant in the contract that the singer would not perform elsewhere during the contracted period. While specific performance of the positive covenant to perform could not be enforced, the negative covenant to not perform elsewhere could be enforced through an injunction.

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as PPTX, PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Download as pptx, pdf, or txt
    400 views3 pages

    Specific Performance

    Uploaded by

    Aye Alexa
    This case involved a singer (Df) who contracted to perform exclusively at one theater (P's theater) for 3 months but then agreed to perform at another theater instead. P sued seeking an injunction. The lower court and Chancery court both found that an injunction could be granted to enforce the negative covenant in the contract that the singer would not perform elsewhere during the contracted period. While specific performance of the positive covenant to perform could not be enforced, the negative covenant to not perform elsewhere could be enforced through an injunction.

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as PPTX, PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
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    Specific Performance

    x Mandatory court order to a party to fulfill its


    contractual obligations according to the precise terms of
    the contract it entered into. Courts order specific
    performance where monetary damages are inadequate,
    inappropriate, or cannot be established.
    x It is a discretionary remedy, and may not be available
    in certain cases such as disputes regarding contracts of
    employment.
    For example: If a defendant has breached a contract in
    which he agreed to deliver a Picasso painting to the
    plaintiff, the Court might in that case order specific
    performance; that the defendant deliver forthwith to the
    plaintiff said painting.

    Lumley v. Wagner
    is anEnglish contract lawcase, concerning the right to terminate performance
    of a contract.
    Facts:A singer Johanna Wagner, Df, entered into a simple contract to perform
    at Her Majestys Theatre, for a period of three months, covering a certain
    number of nights and nowhere else during that period.
    Issue:Whether a court of equity ought to grant an injunction ordering specific
    performance of the defendant to sing at Her Majestys Theater and nowhere
    else?
    Holding:Yes
    Procedure:Lord Chancellor Leonards determined jurisdiction and issued an
    injunction compelling Df to abstain from singing elsewhere.
    Rule:An injunction compelling specific performance shall issue to a true and
    literal performance of their agreements.
    Ct. Rationale:The court cannot compel the Df to sing, but the court can issue
    an injunction barring her to abstain from the commission of an act which she
    has bound herself not to do. The K states she is to refrain from singing
    elsewhere during the period in question. If she attempts to do so she will have
    broken the spirit and meaning of the contract.
    PL A:The Df has bound herself to fulfill an engagement at Her Majestys
    Theater by a contract, and to not perform elsewhere.

    Facts:

    P contracted with D to have her sing in his theatre for 3 months.

    D subsequently agreed to sing in another theatre.

    P sued D in a court of equity seeking an injunction to keep D from singing in other theatres.
    Procedural History:

    Lower court found for P, injunction granted.

    Chancery court affirmed, found for P, injunction granted.


    Issues:

    Can an injunction be granted to enforce a negative covenant of a contract?


    Holding/Rule:

    An injunction can be granted to enforce a negative covenant of a contract.


    Reasoning:

    This contract contains a positive covenant (the requirement that the singer sing for the theatre) and
    a negative covenant (the implied requirement that she wouldn't sing in a different theatre).

    Courts should not enforce necessarily enforce positive covenants like these since we don't want to
    force employees to work for employers they don't want to work for.

    However, courts can enforce negative covenants if the commodity in question in the contract is
    sufficiently rare or has a specific talent.

    These types of injunctions should be granted in situations where the remedy at law in inadequate;
    forcing her to pay for breach would not adequately compensate the P for losing this major talent and
    having her defect to a different theatre (and it would probably be pretty hard to estimate the
    damages).
    Dissent:

    None.
    Notes:

    Specific performance?

    The court will not force her to work with the opera company because of the public policy that the
    courts will not force persons to perform a personal service for someone else.
    The remedy, then, is a negative injunction to try to push her back to her original employer.

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