Roth v. Malson
California Court of Appeal
67 Cal. App. 4th 552 (1998)

- Written by Rich Walter, JD
Facts
George Malson (defendant) offered to sell property to John Roth (plaintiff). Malson sent Roth a boilerplate response form describing the offer and containing clearly labeled boxes for accepting or rejecting the offer, or for making counteroffers. Roth signed the counteroffer box and appended his handwritten paraphrase of Malson’s offer in a part of the box reserved for proposing the terms of a counteroffer. Malson’s lawyer informed Roth that Malson had rejected what the lawyer called Roth’s “counteroffer.” Roth sued for specific performance. Ruling that Roth and Malson had not formed a valid contract, the trial court entered summary judgment for Malson. Roth appealed to the California Court of Appeal.
Rule of Law
Issue
Holding and Reasoning (Sims, J.)
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