Contract Law

Professional bail bond company owners and BEAs know that bail and bail enforcement arrives from the executing of specialized contracts.

So anyways, I was posting a bail bond when another never-before-seen bail agent enters the lobby on a separate bond matter.

They guy gets right into my space and starts talking albeit in a friendly manner. I quickly determine that they guy was intoxicated by the strong, alcoholic beverage whiff every syllable spoken betrayed.

The deputies didn't notice because of glass and air flow coming from their side.

Now, if the drunk bail agent's client runs and can't be found, I think that the contract can be contested as uneforceable since one party to the contract was under the influence at the time of signing.

C'mon guys! This is a good one. What do you think?

Rex

Rex,

I can definately see your point, but you might want to consider Lucy v. Zehmer in which Zehmer was heavily intoxicated while agreeing to sell his property at a bar. The court upheld the contract as Zehmer was more or less aware of his actions and the contract was not unconcionable.

On the other hand, if this guy did not normally deal in bail bonds and had no idea what he was getting into then it *might* be a diffrent story. Even then I cannot imagine a judge, especially out in California, having much empathy for the guy nor can I imagine him wanting to go up in front of a judge and admit that he was intoxicated while signing a bond.

In this situation, the bail agent was posting the bond for another agent using the same surety. I did not notice any type of real underwriting though the docs could have been done somewhere else by another agent.

If possible, I'd like to see the full cite so that I could look up the case. Was that a federal case or local case? In California, submitted documents on state civil matters should bear cites from California to carry suitable weight, so far as I am led to believe absent contrary indicators.

I know it's a stretch, but coming up with such things is an unusual hobby of mine whether not any 'thing' is actually used


Rex

Rex,

The case is LUCY v. ZEHMER, Supreme Court of Appeals of Virginia 196 Va 493, 84 S.E.2d 512 (1954). You may be correct that this will not be of much help out in the PRC, but one can never know until he tries .

I was just getting ready to log off when E-mail notification came in on this.

Thanks a bunch for the cite; I'll definately make some time to find and read the case.

Rex