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nberry said: Based on your response I assume you are a lawyer. If so, let me give you a piece of advice. Never view a client case with a jewelers eye. He or she will never win. Your job is to find/create ways to give your client a chance. If this was a law school exam question, I probably would not give you a passing grade.
This is not a specific performance issue (I could spend time explaining why it is not but why bore the readers ) though many assume so. It contractual in nature and the soley issue is whether the buyer has a remedy including replacing the car. Some state laws may allow it. Other's may not. Some may refer the matter to Arbitration. The point is there may be opportunties for him to get what he wants. To reject out of hand his chances is at best poor lawyering.
Nick, I fundamentally disagree with you.
When first discussing a case with a client, the aim is not to search high and low for arguments to make the client feel there is 'a mere chance'. One needs to give an honest assessment of what the likely outcome would be if the case were adjudicated by a court based on previous case law. All I did was offer a view as to what the likely outcome would be. I have not "rejected his chances out of hand".
The approach you have suggested of trying to make the client feel he has a case worth fighting irrespective of what the likely outcome might be is exactly why non-lawyers (and lawyers outside the US) have such huge contempt for US litigators who will try just about any argument they can in the hope that just maybe one of these arguments might fly. No wonder your society has become so litigious where one simply needs to find a lawyer prepared to fight a case no matter how fanciful its chances might be. That, in my view, is "poor lawyering" since it entertains false hopes and leads to incurring unnecessary legal costs in hopeless litigation.
Having given an honest assessment of the likely outcome to the client, the lawyer's role, if the case is pursued, is to fight it as hard as possible using every argument at one's disposal.
Yes, I am a lawyer and, with all due respect to you, no, I don't need any advice from you as to how to practise law. I have a law degree from Cambridge University and many years experience of practice. Heaven help your clients if you delude yourself and your client into a merry dance. I shudder to think where you learnt the law and how to practise it.
Porsche930S, my apologies for this unintended argument. I only had your best interests at heart. I hope you get the best outcome possible. I will withdraw now from this thread and let the 'speculators' talk instead.