Ward v. Mattuschek
Supreme Court of Montana
330 P.2d 971
Facts
Mattuschek (defendant) owned a ranch and contracted with E. F. Carnell to act as his agent for selling the ranch. Mattuschek executed a written instrument assigning Carnell the exclusive right to sell the property. Carnell found a willing purchaser in Ward (plaintiff). Ward issued a down payment check to Carnell and executed a written instrument stating that he agreed to purchase the ranch in accordance with the terms of the agreement between Carnell and Mattuschek. Mattuschek refused to sell the property to Ward. Ward filed suit seeking specific performance and damages. The trial court ruled in favor of Mattuschek on the grounds that Ward could not produce a written instrument signed by Mattuschek that satisfied the statute of frauds. Ward appealed.
Rule of Law
Issue
Holding and Reasoning (Fall, J.)
Dissent (Adair, J.)
What to do next…
Here's why 708,000 law students have relied on our case briefs:
- Written by law professors and practitioners, not other law students. 44,500 briefs, keyed to 983 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.