May Trucking Co. v. Northwest Volvo Trucks, Inc.

This is a case about unsuccessful negotiations for the sale of a large number of trucks and the intersection between the seventeenth-century statute of frauds and twenty-first century electronic mail. Along the way, there are allegations of breach of contract and the fabrication of documents, as well as issues of equitable estoppel, prejudgment interest, and appellate procedure.

By way of introduction to this civil litigation morass, we begin with the following summary. Plaintiff May Trucking Company needed to purchase a number of new trucks. It negotiated with a truck manufacturer, defendant…