American Canadian Expeditions, Ltd. v. Gauley River Corporation
West Virginia Supreme Court of Appeals
655 S.E.2d 188 (2007)
- Written by Rich Walter, JD
Facts
Gauley River Corporation (Gauley) (defendant) and American Canadian Expeditions, Ltd. (ACE) (plaintiff) were both whitewater-rafting companies. In return for $75,000, Gauley gave ACE a three-year option to buy a portion of Gauley's land, and an easement over the property, which afforded ACE's customers access to a nearby river. The option contract was silent as to any timber on the property, and before the option period expired, Gauley conducted logging operations to clear the property. Gauley received $42,000 for the timber harvest. The harvest did not interfere with ACE's easement, but ACE sued Gauley for the loss of the trees and for damage to the option property. Nevertheless, ACE went ahead and exercised its option to buy the property, stipulating that by so doing it did not waive its right to recover damages from Gauley. The judge dismissed the suit on the grounds that ACE failed to show it had either a legal or an equitable interest in the property at the time Gauley cut down its trees. ACE appealed to the West Virginia Supreme Court of Appeals.
Rule of Law
Issue
Holding and Reasoning (Albright, J.)
What to do next…
Here's why 812,000 law students have relied on our case briefs:
- Written by law professors and practitioners, not other law students. 46,300 briefs, keyed to 988 casebooks. Top-notch customer support.
- The right amount of information, includes the facts, issues, rule of law, holding and reasoning, and any concurrences and dissents.
- Access in your classes, works on your mobile and tablet. Massive library of related video lessons and high quality multiple-choice questions.
- Easy to use, uniform format for every case brief. Written in plain English, not in legalese. Our briefs summarize and simplify; they don’t just repeat the court’s language.
