Case Analysis: Lucy v. Zehmer Tiffany A. Stephens Southern New Hampshire University BUS-206-R3557 Business Law I 23EW3 Prof. Brenna Strype February 12, 2023 Zehmer contends that the intent is missing from the offer. In the case, Zehmer states he was joking when he offered to sell his farm for $50,000 to Mr. Lucy. Mr. Lucy says the only time he believed there to be any type of joke was when the purchase amount was raised, but that the actual sale of the farm was never in question. According to the textbook, "the courts are concerned only with the party's outward manifestations of intent, not internal thought processes" (Kubasek et al., 2019). For Zehmer to prove his contention, he would have had to express that he was not serious about selling his farm. Instead of whispering to his wife that it was a joke when she signed the contract, if he had said this statement for other parties to hear, there would have been grounds for him to prove the offer was not intended to be taken seriously. By keeping his intentions hidden, Mr. Lucy was entering into a contract to purchase the farm that he had no reason to doubt. The original court ruling was in favor of Mr. Zehmer. Mr. Lucy appealed this ruling and Judge Buchanan reversed the ruling in favor of the plaintiff. Despite Mr. Zehmer's defense that the contract had been a joke, Mr. Lucy had believed the contract that was written by Mr. Zehmer and signed by himself and his wife, was a legally binding contract. The evidence shows that "he
was warranted in believing that the contract represented a serious business transaction" (Kubasek, 2020). I agree with the ruling in this case. Although I have half a mind to think the way the transaction came about is questionable, Mr. Lucy's actions after signing the contract proved to me that he felt he was locked into a serious business transaction. Someone who was under the impression that the previous night's activities were a joke would not come up with a business partner, a lawyer, and that kind of money presumably hours after the interaction. I also, however, have a soft spot for Mr. Zehmer. With the ruling in favor of the plaintiff, he ended up selling his farm over drinks. This was obviously not something he had intended to do after multiple attempts in the past for this exact thing. I believe business transactions should never be taken lightly and are not something to make jokes about, or you could find yourself in Mr. Zehmer's shoes. A few years ago, during a very tough time in my life, I signed a guardianship agreement with my daughter's grandmother. The agreement was supposed to be permission for her to get medical attention and take care of her daily needs. When I was capable, my daughter would return home to me and we would continue on with our lives. I trusted this woman so completely that I only