The cats have a problem. In June they entered into a contract with Bowser, the dog next door who operates a dispensary, to sell their entire crop to him for seven hundred fifty dollars per pound. Due to the proliferation of grow sites in the valley, by the time that the trimmerants hired by the cats completed the harvest, the wholesale price for marijuana had dropped to five hundred fifty dollars a pound. Bowser informed the cats that he was rescinding the contract in reliance on a clause in the contract that excused him from purchasing the cats’ crop in the event of a material adverse change in circumstances that prevented him from completing his purchase or sale of the cats’ marijuana, such as a change in the law, loss of his business license or any other event beyond his control and not caused by him that rendered him unable to purchase or sell their crop.
The cats weren’t born yesterday. They know that Bowser wants to get out of the contract because the wholesale price of marijuana dropped and he doesn’t want to pay the contract price. There is nothing that prevents him from purchasing or selling their crop. The cats attempted to reach their San Francisco attorneys but were informed that their lawyers are out of the office for three weeks on a safari in the Serengeti. Reluctantly, they consulted me.
I advised the cats that the drop in the market price of marijuana did not excuse Bowser from purchasing their crop and that they had the right to enforce the contract. They asked how they should go about enforcing the contract, and I told them that they could file a lawsuit for specific enforcement of the contract and obtain a judgment compelling Bowser to pay the contract price. They asked how long such a lawsuit would take, and I told them that they could probably obtain a summary judgment in about six months. They replied that the medicine was already harvested and bagged and ready for delivery and that in six months it would be spoiled. They didn’t have time for a lawsuit. They needed the contract enforced right now. They didn’t need a lawsuit. They needed an Enforcer. I told them that in that case I couldn’t help them and left the room
After I left the cats placed a call to the Old Tom.
Allen Drescher has practiced law in Ashland and Southern Oregon since 1973. His practice areas include real estate and business law, estate planning and elder law.
© Allen Drescher
