By Paul
F. Alphen, Esquire
I don’t know Superior Court Judge
Richard E Welch III, but it appears that he either called one of the
defendants, or counsel for one of the defendants, dumber than “the dullest
first year law student” in a case pertaining to the grant of an easement in
exchange for a promise to convey a parcel of land. Notwithstanding the
execution of what the court referred to as “..to put it charitably, not a well
drafted legal document”, and the granting of an easement by the plaintiffs
followed by the construction of a retaining wall on the plaintiffs’ land, the
plaintiffs never received the parcel of land from the defendants. The Court
ruled in favor of the plaintiffs and ordered that the retaining wall be
removed, and in doing so started the decision off with these strong words:
“Even the dullest first year law
student learns in the first year contracts class that one cannot legally obtain
something of value in exchange for an empty promise. That same student also
understands that a party to a contract must act in good faith and cannot
intentionally undermine the value of the agreed upon bargain. One hopes that
any ethical adult would understand these basic rules of fair dealing without
attending a law school. Unfortunately, not all act in good faith. This is an
example of bad faith dealing which constitutes a breach of contract…. After carefully considering all the
credible evidence, it is rather easy to conclude that this case presents an
example of a company utilizing bad faith when breaching a contract with one of
its neighbors.” Nicoli v. Gooby Indus. Corp.,
No. 2014-1216 B, 2016 WL 4607900, at 1 (Mass. Super. Sept. 2, 2016)
Ouch.
Paul F. Alphen, Esquire
Alphen& Santos,
P.C.
Westford, MA
