If “it depends” is the #1 reflexive answer to a legal question, “get it in writing” has to be somewhere near the top of that list. If your 1L Contracts course was anything like mine, you know that a written contract is the golden standard. You might be able to prove the existence of a contract by repeated behavior and payment, but going to court and collecting damages becomes a much steeper path when you don’t have a document with clearly negotiated clauses to point to. Pat Corcoran found that out the hard way when he took Chance The Rapper to court over breaching a handshake contract that he claimed promised a cut of royalties three years after termination. Considering this jury verdict, he should have got it in writing. Rolling Stone has coverage:
Chance the Rapper has reached the end of a five-year legal battle with his former manager, Pat Corcoran. Following jury deliberations in a trial that ran for just over two weeks, the artist born Chancelor Bennett was awarded $35 in his countersuit against Corcoran, who he alleged exploited his position as manager, demanded kickbacks, and damaged the musician’s reputation.
The lawsuit, which sought $1 million, was initially filed in February 2021. It arrived just over two months after Corcoran filed his own lawsuit seeking $3.8 million in unpaid expenses and commissions from the rapper related to touring, merchandise, and other responsibilities.
Going to court, winning a damage to reputation claim, and only winning $35? That “I met Kanye West I’m never going to fail” line keeps aging like milk. Sure, he technically won — and not having to pay the $3.8M is nothing to shirk off — but to come up 35 bucks after five years of court back and forth is Pyrrhic as all hell. Factoring in lawyer fees, he may have been better off financially by settling and paying some portion of the initial shakedown attempt back in 2021. Then again, value is subjective; perhaps the I-told-you-so of a jury agreeing that your former manager was a career liability is the real prize, even if the cash value of the damage to your career could barely cover a meal at Potbelly.
Congratulations to Chance on the victory! Double cheers for not having to worry about people asking to borrow money after seeing your win in the papers.
Chance the Rapper Awarded $35 in Exploitation Countersuit Against Former Manager [Rolling Stone]
Earlier: Chance The Rapper In Court Over Multimillion-Dollar Handshake Contract Dispute
Chris Williams became a social media manager and assistant editor for Above the Law in June 2021. Prior to joining the staff, he moonlighted as a minor Memelord™ in the Facebook group Law School Memes for Edgy T14s . He endured Missouri long enough to graduate from Washington University in St. Louis School of Law. He is a former boat builder who is learning to swim and is interested in rhetoric, Spinozists and humor. Getting back in to cycling wouldn’t hurt either. You can reach him by email at cwilliams@abovethelaw.com and by tweet at @WritesForRent.
The post Former Manager Loses Handshake Contract Suit With Chance The Rapper appeared first on Above the Law.
