Wartzman v. Hightower Productions, Ltd.
Court of Special Appeals of Maryland
456 A.2d 82 (1983)
Wartzman's law firm (defendant) set up Hightower (plaintiff) to raise stock-sale funds for a flagpole-sitting stunt but negligently structured the corporation, failing to prepare a required offering memorandum, and only two weeks before the stunt told Hightower it could sell no more stock without a securities specialist costing $10,000-15,000 -- funds Hightower did not have -- and refused Hightower's request that the firm cover that cost. Hightower, forced to hire substitute counsel and place its initial $43,000 in escrow while enduring weeks of delay, sued for its reliance expenditures; a jury awarded damages, and the firm appealed while Hightower cross-appealed for pre-judgment interest.
Whether an injured party may recover damages it incurred in reliance on a contract, and whether it must incur a substantial financial obligation to satisfy its duty to mitigate.