The Selmer Company v. Blakeslee-Midwest Company case brief

The Selmer Company v. Blakeslee-Midwest Company: (7^th Cir, 1983); CB 422; Notes 51

Economic Duress?

• Facts: contract for erecting prestressed concrete materials supplied by D.
• Claim: due to economic hardship P was forced to take a smaller payment for services.
• Issue: was there economic duress sufficient not to enforce the deal?
• Holding: the mere stress of business conditions will not constitute duress where the defendant was not responsible for the conditions; judgment for D.
  • fact that one party had financial difficulty, alone, not enough to set aside agreement under duress
  • Ct. says it has not been showed that it was the D’s fault that P was in economic trouble-danger is that you don’t wanna create a universe where every settlement could be reopened afterwards