1.Professor Mann recently inherited a 20-acre tract of land from his grandfather in Wisconsin. Unknown to House, who had never visited Wisconsin (even though he lived in the western part of Minnesota), the land contained valuable coal deposits worth $500,000.

The Dairyland Coal & Mining Company, who knew about the coal deposits, and had made many unsuccessful attempts to purchase the land from Mann's grandfather, had one of its agents, Jones, approach Mann and offered to purchase his property for $50,000. Mann explained to Jones that he really had no need for this land, but that he did not want to sell it until he knew the land's market value. At this point, the Jones produced documentation previously prepared by the Dairyland Coal & Mining Company showing that 20 acres of land in this portion of Wisconsin typically sold for about $40,000. This information was generally accurate for tracts of land that did not contain coal or other mineral deposits. When Mann asked Jones why he was willing to pay $50,000 for land only worth up to $40,000, Jones explained that he always fancied this particular piece of land, thought it was very beautiful, and that the additional $10,000 represented the sentimental value he attached to the land. The following conversation then took place:

Mann: Is there anything else about the land I should know about?

Jones: Like what?

Mann: Well, if the land had gold under it, for example, you'd tell me, right?

Jones: Of course, I'd tell you if the land had gold under it. In fact, I promise you, if the land turns out to have gold on it, I'll sell it back to you for the amount I paid.

Convinced, Mann and Jones shook hands to seal the deal, and agreed to memorialize their agreement in writing within the next couple of days or so. The next day, at Jones' request, Mann paid $1,000 to obtain a survey and title search on his newly-inherited property. Jones then took Mann to a local bar "to celebrate their deal," where Jones purchased numerous alcoholic beverages for Mann, getting him quite drunk at one point, and finally brought Mann home around 4:00 a.m. One hour later, 20 representatives from the Dairyland Coal & Mining Company showed up at Mann's home, at 5:00 a.m., and asked him to sign the following writing:

The Dairyland Coal & Mining Company hereby agrees to pay to Professor Vance Mann $50,000 for his recently-inherited 20-acre tract of land in Wisconsin, and Professor Vance Mann hereby agrees to convey all of his land to the Dairyland Coal & Mining Company.

Although Mann was not intoxicated, he did have a bad hangover, was perplexed and confused as to the identity of the 20 representatives in his house, and had some difficulty concentrating and generally making sense of the situation. He told Dairyland that he already agreed to sell his house to someone named Jones, at which time Dairyland told him that Jones was one of its agents. Surprised by this revelation, Mann said he would need more time to think before signing the contract. He also thought the fact that Jones really worked for a coal and mining company was suspicious, and briefly considered the fact that Dairyland might be purchasing his property for natural resources, but then felt somewhat reassured when he hazily recalled his conversation with Jones about obtaining a refund if the land proved to have natural resources buried beneath its soil. Because Mann was taking a long time to make his decision, all of the 20 representatives for Dairyland began to harangue him, telling him that a deal is a deal, that he had already agreed to sell his property, that he did not want to be known in the community as someone who broke his promises, and that, should he refuse to sign the papers, he would be taken to court and sued for breach of contract.

Mann did not know what to do, and told the representatives that he would like to get some advice from his attorney first, and began to pick up his phone. One representative from Dairyland then slammed down the phone and said "I wouldn't do that if I were you." Another representative immediately said "If you know what's best for you, I'd sign that writing," and opened his blazer to grab a pen from his inside pocket, which he shoved in Mann's direction. When the representative opened his blazer, Mann thought he saw a sharp metal object tucked into the representative's belt. A bit frightened at this point, and still confused by the entire situation, Mann signed the contract, and the representatives from Dairyland handed Mann a check for $50,000, and left House's home.

Mann went back to bed and, after catching up on his sleep and waking up around 5:00 p.m., he fully realized what had previously transpired. He immediately emailed Jones and told him to tell Dairyland that "our deal is off." Jones told him that this would not be acceptable.

The next day Mann decided to contact a geologist in Wisconsin to go have a survey of the land, and the geologist reported that there was in fact a huge coal deposit on the land that it was probably worth around $500,000.

Mann has now filed a lawsuit to try to get out of the contract with Dairyland.

There are at least three legal issues that he can raise (might not win, but can raise them).

IRAC analysis of each of the three and whether Mann would win or lose