What Can We Learn From The Cowboys’ Jerry Jones? Lessons in Contracts and Legal Battles

This is a strange one, even for this newsletter. A woman claiming to be Jerry Jones’s daughter (and her mother) are attempting to get a signed settlement agreement (from 1998) with Jones to be ruled as invalid. The agreement in question was allegedly to address Jones’s paternity of the woman. The woman (and her mother) are relying on several arguments:

1. No Meeting of the Minds: There was “no meeting of the minds in the formation of the contract” because Jones couldn’t recall details of the agreement in his deposition and hadn’t seen it personally until a few years ago.
2. Violation of Texas Public Policy: Forbidding a child from establishing paternity violates Texas public policy.
3. Lack of Ratification: She wasn’t a party to the agreement as she hadn’t ratified the contract upon turning 18.

Jones’s attorney argued that the contract was in fact valid for these reasons:

1. Agent’s Authority: An inability to recall certain details about a contract signed by someone’s agent does not invalidate the contract, (obviously!).
2. Legal Basis: The woman (and her mother) didn’t provide anything in the Texas statutes or any case law stating that preventing someone from establishing paternity was against public policy.
3. Implied Acceptance: The woman accepted more than 220 monthly, annual, and special payments under the agreement after turning 18, thereby ratifying the agreement via her actions.

So, What Can We Learn From This NDA Gone Sideways?

We can discuss how minors can enter into a contract in Florida. Let’s say there’s a minor child that’s a budding star and folks are dying to give him or her money to peddle their wares. How is a parent to protect that minor’s interest?

Florida Statute 743.08 allows a Guardianship Court to approve a contract entered into by a minor’s parent on behalf of the minor. The Court’s approval allows a third party to rely on the contract even after the minor reaches the age of majority (18 in Florida). The Court really likes to limit these minor contracts to 3 years but has the freedom in the Statute to reasonably extend the date. Additionally, if the contract impairs the minor’s physical or mental well-being, the Court may amend or revoke the approval. Refusal for the minor to perform on the grounds of impairment of the well-being of the minor would be justified.

Jones and the woman (and her mother) abruptly dropped the case mid-trial, along with the associated cases between the parties, as the parties must have agreed to a settlement. Neither party is discussing the new agreement.

So, there we have it. We learn that in Florida, minors can be bound by contracts if the Court approves them and that my next party will be NDA-themed (if you know, you know LOL).