法律英语case1

1、1,Dobson v.Masonite Corp,United States Court of Appeals Fifth Circuit 359 F.2d 921(1966),2,Statement of facts,Trial Court Plaintiff: Dobson Defendant : Masonite Corp.,Appellate Court Appellant :Masonite Corp Appellee :Dobson,3,Statement of facts,Identify legally relevant facts In march 1963 ,Dobson

2、orally agreed to undertake cutting operation on Masonites lands. So they reached a verbal agreement like this:,4,Contract (1)Cut all oak timber (2)Have complete control over the entire cutting operations (3)Sell the cut timber as he could (4)Pay M $12 initially,and subsequently $10 per thousand log

3、feet of oak sold,5,So Masonite unilaterally terminated the agreement and ordered Dobson to discontinue his operations.,However,the price of the oak surged, Dobson was able to realize profit from his operations.,6,Dobson continued clearing operations from March 1963 to December 1963, during which tim

4、e cleared 4,000 acres of land ,and realized a net profit, after all expenses, including payments to Masonite, of,$9,383.02,7,Dobson interpreted the contract as one for service; he argued that the agreement was for clearing the land of unwanted oak trees. Mosonite denied liability, interpreting the c

5、ontract as one for the sales of standing timber, and invoking the Mississippi statute of frauds to bar Dobsons claim .,b. Identify procedurally significant facts,8,Legal issues,Which type of the contract? service or sales Dobson Masonite Interpretation Question of law or Question of fact,9,HoldingDi

6、strict Court,Jury in favor of P assess damages at 26,500 District court question of law contract for sales the contract is unenforceable,10,HoldingAppeals Fifth Circuit Court,Question of fact reversed and remanded with directions,11,Rule of law,The Mississippi Statute of Frauds Fed. R. Civ. P. 50(b)

7、,12,Reasoning of the court,13,District Court,The legal analysis and legal effect of that done was in question.,Matter of law,Presented to the judge,Dobson by virtue of the contract acquired an interest in standing timber.,Sale contract,Mississippi Statute of Frauds,14,Fifth Circuit Court,Interpretat

8、ion is always a question of fact. “legal effect” is just the result of applying rules of law to the facts.,Question of fact,Determined by the jury,Unless there was no evidence , the verdict must stand.,15,Additionnal comments,My puzzle: What is the “legal effect”?,Appellate court: legal effect is th

9、e result of applying rules of law to the facts.,District court: Legal effect is the legal influence of a juridical act.,16,I prefer the appellate courts opinion. Because if we choose the district courts idea that anything may lead to legal influence is a matter of law,we would get an amazing interen

10、ce - there is no need for the jury. For example: in criminal cases,the jury determine whether the defendant is guilty.This determination itself obviously lead to legal influence . In order to protect the jury system,we should support the holding of the appellate court. (If it is in China,things may be totally different.In Chi