Topic
Business Law (Intoxication must be a result of connivance against the aggrieved party)
Instructions
In order for a contract to be legal, all parties must have the legal capacity to consent. Review the attached letter regarding Terrance Watanabe who lost nearly $127 million over several months while gambling in a casino in Las Vegas. He argues that he was under the influence of alcohol and drugs provided by the casino while gambling and thus should not be relieved of his contractual obligation to be responsible for all of the monies lost and or still owed. Clearly state your opinion answering the following question:
Should the law allow someone that becomes voluntarily incapacitated through intoxication or other means to escape from a contractual obligation using incapacity as a defense? Does it matter if the other party to the contract knew or clearly should have known that the other party is or has become incapacitated?
Answer Preview
In as much the intoxication is voluntary; it should not appear to be influenced by the circumvention of the other party (Murray Jr, 2011). Nonetheless, it is crystal clear that the actions of the two casinos were schemes meant to deceive Mr. Watanabe into reckless gambling to benefit the casinos. The contract between Mr. Watanabe and the two casinos is voidable since the agreement was so extreme to the extent that the management and staff of both casinos made sure that he became clearly incapable of assenting or perceiving. They supplied Mr. Watanabe with alcohol even when it was visible to any reasonable person that he had already taken too much; this intimated intention to exploit Mr. Watanabe’s drinking problem for their own selfish reasons. In addition, the fact that he placed more than the limit set for gambling on some occasions is proof that Mr. Watanabe was incapable of assenting or perceiving the state of events.
Word Count: 1000