Dennis v. PHC-Martinsville, Inc.

By

Judge David V. Williams

“Few of us, when confronted with the threat, ‘Your money or your life! ’ would, like Jack Benny, pause and respond, ‘I’m thinking, I’m thinking.’ Most of us would empty our wallets.” Smith v. Dorchester Real Estate, Inc., 732 F.3d 51, 67 (1st Cir. 2013) (quoting Mercado v. Ahmed, 974 F.2d 863, 871 (7th Cir. 1992)). Does that act of acquiescence demonstrate acceptance of an offer and create a contract?

This question might seem far-fetched to anyone but a law professor. See generally J. Stanley McQuade, LL. B., M.D., Ph. D., Jurisdiction (1982). However, this case, a…