Sea-Van Investments Associates v. Hamilton

Sea-Van Investments Associates (Sea-Van) brought a suit for specific performance and/or damages against Marvin and Larona Hamilton (Hamilton) and Clare and Virginia Hellyer (Hellyer) to enforce an alleged contract for the sale of land. The trial court granted a motion to dismiss at the close of Sea-Van’s case, ruling that no contract had been formed. The Court of Appeals reversed the trial court. It found that a contract was formed, and utilized the disputed legal doctrine of "judicial admissions” to supply a missing material element. We agree with the trial court that there was never a…