Reference no: EM131948144

SCENARIO:

General Equity Corporation (General) entered into a contract with renowned artist Halla, who agreed to make artwork for General's main office building. Under the terms of the written agreement, Halla was to complete the creation and installation of the artwork within one year from April 15 - the date the parties signed the agreement. Unfortunately, Halla delayed creating any artwork and missed the one-year deadline. Finally, on May 1 Halla informed General that he was refusing to create or install any art for its building and that he would not complete his obligations pursuant to the parties' agreement. Meanwhile, General placed its main office building on the market, and on May 1 signed an agreement to sell the office building to Ideal Investments, Inc. for $12 million. The closing date for this sale was set for May 30. On May 25, Jewel Funds Company discovered that the building was being sold, and submitted an offer to purchase it for $15 million to General. General accepted the offer from Jewel Funds Company, and on May 29, General contacted Ideal Investments, Inc. and informed it that they were canceling the sale to Ideal Investments, Inc. because they had received a better offer from Jewel Funds Company. General refused Ideal Investment's request to complete the sale according to the parties' original agreement.

Two lawsuits arose out of this set of facts:

1. General filed a lawsuit against Halla and asked the court to award it the remedy of specific performance; and 2. Ideal filed a lawsuit against General and asked the court to award it the remedy of specific performance. 

QUESTION:

Define the term specific performance, and explain how and when this remedy typically is used by the courts. Then, discuss and explain how the court is likely to decide in each of these two lawsuits. What other remedies court the court award in each case? Why?