CS-Lakeview at Gwinnett v. Simon Property Group
Georgia Supreme Court
659 S.E.2d 359 (2008)
- Written by Steven Pacht, JD
Facts
CS-Lakeview at Gwinnett, Inc. and related entities (collectively, CS) (collectively, plaintiffs) entered into a settlement agreement with Simon Property Group, Inc. (Simon) (defendant) and others to resolve a complex, multiparty dispute regarding certain assets of a joint venture in which CS and Simon participated. Per the settlement, Simon received certain property in Georgia (property), but the agreement, which contained a choice-of-law clause selecting Delaware law, gave CS a right of first refusal to purchase the property. After Simon sold the property to a third party, CS sued Simon for violating CS’s first-refusal rights. The trial court granted summary judgment to Simon, ruling that the first-refusal clause was invalid under Delaware’s rule against perpetuities. The court of appeals affirmed. CS appealed, arguing that Georgia courts should reform the settlement agreement to correct the parties’ alleged mutual mistake of law by selecting Delaware law. Accordingly, CS argued that Georgia courts should apply Georgia law, under which the first-refusal clause was valid.
Rule of Law
Issue
Holding and Reasoning (Carley, J.)
Dissent (Sears, C.J.)
What to do next…
Here's why 832,000 law students have relied on our case briefs:
- Written by law professors and practitioners, not other law students. 46,500 briefs, keyed to 994 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.
