United States for the Use of Trane Co. v. Bond
Maryland Court of Appeals
586 A.2d 734 (1991)
- Written by Rich Walter, JD
Facts
Mech-Con Corporation executed a performance bond guaranteeing its completion of a federal heating and air-conditioning project. Albert Bond threatened his wife, Lorna Bond (defendant), with violence unless she joined him in signing the bond as a cosurety, which she did. Mech-Con could not comply with project requirements and declared bankruptcy, as did Albert. The United States (plaintiff), for the use of the Trane Company, sued Lorna in federal district court to recover on the bond. The key question was whether Lorna could assert the defense of duress against the federal government even though the government neither participated in nor knew of the duress. Maryland law applied to the case, so the district court certified the question to the Maryland Court of Appeals for resolution.
Rule of Law
Issue
Holding and Reasoning (Murphy, 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.
