Any experience of walking away from a school contract?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We did. Husband had two years left on military orders, which were cancelled and new ones issued. School wouldn't let us out, nor would tuition insurance cover it. Just didn't go on vacation that year...

If this were us, I'd be lighting up this board with the name of the school. Very bad look for whichever place did this to a servicemember.

Yeah, this is really gross to do to a servicemember.

[Anonymous]

I find all of the pearl clutching about the morals of breaking contracts in these threads to be so interesting. I am someone who never breaks contracts or backs out of things, so I doubt I'd find myself in this situation absent unusual circumstances. But I'm also a lawyer and people break contracts all the time. Sometimes it's the reasonable, logical thing to do. These schools are businesses too, and they will get over it and likely fill the seat if the school is any good.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I find all of the pearl clutching about the morals of breaking contracts in these threads to be so interesting. I am someone who never breaks contracts or backs out of things, so I doubt I'd find myself in this situation absent unusual circumstances. But I'm also a lawyer and people break contracts all the time. Sometimes it's the reasonable, logical thing to do. These schools are businesses too, and they will get over it and likely fill the seat if the school is any good.

I would agree with the exception of the contract being enforced for the service member... typically we as a country legally protect parties breaking contracts due to unanticipated change of station for the people protecting our country. In a town like DC where many people are within network of the government work force, I do feel it is especially shocking that a school would risk its reputation with that community. They may have kept one family's tuition, but I can guarantee they lost many more, because whispers like that travel fast in that community.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I find all of the pearl clutching about the morals of breaking contracts in these threads to be so interesting. I am someone who never breaks contracts or backs out of things, so I doubt I'd find myself in this situation absent unusual circumstances. But I'm also a lawyer and people break contracts all the time. Sometimes it's the reasonable, logical thing to do. These schools are businesses too, and they will get over it and likely fill the seat if the school is any good.

1000%. People are acting like the contract is some sacred document.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We did. Husband had two years left on military orders, which were cancelled and new ones issued. School wouldn't let us out, nor would tuition insurance cover it. Just didn't go on vacation that year...

This is very odd. Dewars, the company that many private schools use for tuition insurance, specifically covers family moves. You typically wouldn't get the full refund, but you would get a portion depending upon how far into the school year your child is.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I find all of the pearl clutching about the morals of breaking contracts in these threads to be so interesting. I am someone who never breaks contracts or backs out of things, so I doubt I'd find myself in this situation absent unusual circumstances. But I'm also a lawyer and people break contracts all the time. Sometimes it's the reasonable, logical thing to do. These schools are businesses too, and they will get over it and likely fill the seat if the school is any good.

1000%. People are acting like the contract is some sacred document.

Like the Ten Commandments.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I find all of the pearl clutching about the morals of breaking contracts in these threads to be so interesting. I am someone who never breaks contracts or backs out of things, so I doubt I'd find myself in this situation absent unusual circumstances. But I'm also a lawyer and people break contracts all the time. Sometimes it's the reasonable, logical thing to do. These schools are businesses too, and they will get over it and likely fill the seat if the school is any good.

So as a lawyer, your advice to the school where someone broke their contract but doesn’t want to pay the costs they agreed to by signing the contract, is to just get over and not try to enforce it? Interesting take.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I find all of the pearl clutching about the morals of breaking contracts in these threads to be so interesting. I am someone who never breaks contracts or backs out of things, so I doubt I'd find myself in this situation absent unusual circumstances. But I'm also a lawyer and people break contracts all the time. Sometimes it's the reasonable, logical thing to do. These schools are businesses too, and they will get over it and likely fill the seat if the school is any good.

So as a lawyer, your advice to the school where someone broke their contract but doesn’t want to pay the costs they agreed to by signing the contract, is to just get over and not try to enforce it? Interesting take.

Lol, as a lawyer, I can assure you that advice is dispensed very regularly. You explain the likelihood of success, what the client would obtain if it won everything it wanted, and the cost of litigation. You then put a dollar figure on the value of the case. If the case has negative or minimal value, you typically advise the client not to bring it unless there is some sort of personal reason for not bringing the suit.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I find all of the pearl clutching about the morals of breaking contracts in these threads to be so interesting. I am someone who never breaks contracts or backs out of things, so I doubt I'd find myself in this situation absent unusual circumstances. But I'm also a lawyer and people break contracts all the time. Sometimes it's the reasonable, logical thing to do. These schools are businesses too, and they will get over it and likely fill the seat if the school is any good.

So as a lawyer, your advice to the school where someone broke their contract but doesn’t want to pay the costs they agreed to by signing the contract, is to just get over and not try to enforce it? Interesting take.

Lol, as a lawyer, I can assure you that advice is dispensed very regularly. You explain the likelihood of success, what the client would obtain if it won everything it wanted, and the cost of litigation. You then put a dollar figure on the value of the case. If the case has negative or minimal value, you typically advise the client not to bring it unless there is some sort of personal reason for not bringing the suit.

It is unethical and potentially malpractice to take a client’s money to bring a suit with a -$50,000 expected value without firmly advising them of that fact. If the school was able to fill the seat and the family has one full-pay child at the school, the school probably has a 25% chance of winning, at best. Bringing the case to trial could easily cost $150,000. That means the expected value of the suit is -$165,000. Even if the school won everything (and the seat wasn’t filled). The expected value is still only about $90,000.

The school might get lucky and the family might pay as soon as the suit is filed. But what if they don’t? Will the school drop the suit once it gets too expensive? That’s probably worse from a PR standpoint then never bringing the claim in the first place.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I find all of the pearl clutching about the morals of breaking contracts in these threads to be so interesting. I am someone who never breaks contracts or backs out of things, so I doubt I'd find myself in this situation absent unusual circumstances. But I'm also a lawyer and people break contracts all the time. Sometimes it's the reasonable, logical thing to do. These schools are businesses too, and they will get over it and likely fill the seat if the school is any good.

So as a lawyer, your advice to the school where someone broke their contract but doesn’t want to pay the costs they agreed to by signing the contract, is to just get over and not try to enforce it? Interesting take.

Lol, as a lawyer, I can assure you that advice is dispensed very regularly. You explain the likelihood of success, what the client would obtain if it won everything it wanted, and the cost of litigation. You then put a dollar figure on the value of the case. If the case has negative or minimal value, you typically advise the client not to bring it unless there is some sort of personal reason for not bringing the suit.

Also a lawyer. Would have to advise client near zero chance of success in these situations because contracts are very explicit on what damages are for breach. Further, there is an easy way to mitigate, tuition insurance. Far cheaper to pay $40,000 than litigate and then pay $40,000.

Also, the military service poster is clearly a troll.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I find all of the pearl clutching about the morals of breaking contracts in these threads to be so interesting. I am someone who never breaks contracts or backs out of things, so I doubt I'd find myself in this situation absent unusual circumstances. But I'm also a lawyer and people break contracts all the time. Sometimes it's the reasonable, logical thing to do. These schools are businesses too, and they will get over it and likely fill the seat if the school is any good.

So as a lawyer, your advice to the school where someone broke their contract but doesn’t want to pay the costs they agreed to by signing the contract, is to just get over and not try to enforce it? Interesting take.

Lol, as a lawyer, I can assure you that advice is dispensed very regularly. You explain the likelihood of success, what the client would obtain if it won everything it wanted, and the cost of litigation. You then put a dollar figure on the value of the case. If the case has negative or minimal value, you typically advise the client not to bring it unless there is some sort of personal reason for not bringing the suit.

Also a lawyer. Would have to advise client near zero chance of success in these situations because contracts are very explicit on what damages are for breach. Further, there is an easy way to mitigate, tuition insurance. Far cheaper to pay $40,000 than litigate and then pay $40,000.

Also, the military service poster is clearly a troll.

Adding, yes, parties breach contracts all the time. Which is why we know that Courts generally enforce liquidated damages, damages for breach explicitly set out in the contract.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I find all of the pearl clutching about the morals of breaking contracts in these threads to be so interesting. I am someone who never breaks contracts or backs out of things, so I doubt I'd find myself in this situation absent unusual circumstances. But I'm also a lawyer and people break contracts all the time. Sometimes it's the reasonable, logical thing to do. These schools are businesses too, and they will get over it and likely fill the seat if the school is any good.

So as a lawyer, your advice to the school where someone broke their contract but doesn’t want to pay the costs they agreed to by signing the contract, is to just get over and not try to enforce it? Interesting take.

Lol, as a lawyer, I can assure you that advice is dispensed very regularly. You explain the likelihood of success, what the client would obtain if it won everything it wanted, and the cost of litigation. You then put a dollar figure on the value of the case. If the case has negative or minimal value, you typically advise the client not to bring it unless there is some sort of personal reason for not bringing the suit.

Also a lawyer. Would have to advise client near zero chance of success in these situations because contracts are very explicit on what damages are for breach. Further, there is an easy way to mitigate, tuition insurance. Far cheaper to pay $40,000 than litigate and then pay $40,000.

Also, the military service poster is clearly a troll.

Yea, my mom LOVES to keep up with the DOD gossip networks around here (retirement only gave her more time for tea exchange) and her other favorite gossip topic is comparing k-12 schools... I just enrolled my son in private for next year so I'm sure I would have gotten an earful if that had happened in the DMV...

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I find all of the pearl clutching about the morals of breaking contracts in these threads to be so interesting. I am someone who never breaks contracts or backs out of things, so I doubt I'd find myself in this situation absent unusual circumstances. But I'm also a lawyer and people break contracts all the time. Sometimes it's the reasonable, logical thing to do. These schools are businesses too, and they will get over it and likely fill the seat if the school is any good.

So as a lawyer, your advice to the school where someone broke their contract but doesn’t want to pay the costs they agreed to by signing the contract, is to just get over and not try to enforce it? Interesting take.

Lol, as a lawyer, I can assure you that advice is dispensed very regularly. You explain the likelihood of success, what the client would obtain if it won everything it wanted, and the cost of litigation. You then put a dollar figure on the value of the case. If the case has negative or minimal value, you typically advise the client not to bring it unless there is some sort of personal reason for not bringing the suit.

Also a lawyer. Would have to advise client near zero chance of success in these situations because contracts are very explicit on what damages are for breach. Further, there is an easy way to mitigate, tuition insurance. Far cheaper to pay $40,000 than litigate and then pay $40,000.

Also, the military service poster is clearly a troll.

Do you practice contract law or commercial litigation? Because there’s no duty for the breaching party to mitigate?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I find all of the pearl clutching about the morals of breaking contracts in these threads to be so interesting. I am someone who never breaks contracts or backs out of things, so I doubt I'd find myself in this situation absent unusual circumstances. But I'm also a lawyer and people break contracts all the time. Sometimes it's the reasonable, logical thing to do. These schools are businesses too, and they will get over it and likely fill the seat if the school is any good.

So as a lawyer, your advice to the school where someone broke their contract but doesn’t want to pay the costs they agreed to by signing the contract, is to just get over and not try to enforce it? Interesting take.

Lol, as a lawyer, I can assure you that advice is dispensed very regularly. You explain the likelihood of success, what the client would obtain if it won everything it wanted, and the cost of litigation. You then put a dollar figure on the value of the case. If the case has negative or minimal value, you typically advise the client not to bring it unless there is some sort of personal reason for not bringing the suit.

Also a lawyer. Would have to advise client near zero chance of success in these situations because contracts are very explicit on what damages are for breach. Further, there is an easy way to mitigate, tuition insurance. Far cheaper to pay $40,000 than litigate and then pay $40,000.

Also, the military service poster is clearly a troll.

Yea, my mom LOVES to keep up with the DOD gossip networks around here (retirement only gave her more time for tea exchange) and her other favorite gossip topic is comparing k-12 schools... I just enrolled my son in private for next year so I'm sure I would have gotten an earful if that had happened in the DMV...

Great evidence!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I find all of the pearl clutching about the morals of breaking contracts in these threads to be so interesting. I am someone who never breaks contracts or backs out of things, so I doubt I'd find myself in this situation absent unusual circumstances. But I'm also a lawyer and people break contracts all the time. Sometimes it's the reasonable, logical thing to do. These schools are businesses too, and they will get over it and likely fill the seat if the school is any good.

So as a lawyer, your advice to the school where someone broke their contract but doesn’t want to pay the costs they agreed to by signing the contract, is to just get over and not try to enforce it? Interesting take.

Lol, as a lawyer, I can assure you that advice is dispensed very regularly. You explain the likelihood of success, what the client would obtain if it won everything it wanted, and the cost of litigation. You then put a dollar figure on the value of the case. If the case has negative or minimal value, you typically advise the client not to bring it unless there is some sort of personal reason for not bringing the suit.

Also a lawyer. Would have to advise client near zero chance of success in these situations because contracts are very explicit on what damages are for breach. Further, there is an easy way to mitigate, tuition insurance. Far cheaper to pay $40,000 than litigate and then pay $40,000.

Also, the military service poster is clearly a troll.

Do you practice contract law or commercial litigation? Because there’s no duty for the breaching party to mitigate?

What is your argument that the contract is not enforceable? It has an explicit and not onerous liquidated damages provision. The fact that tuition insurance is available makes the liquidated damages provision even more reasonable.