How do we know if we have grounds for a lawsuit against our wedding planner?
Get Legal Help Today
Compare Quotes From Top Companies and Save
Secured with SHA-256 Encryption
How do we know if we have grounds for a lawsuit against our wedding planner?
We hired a wedding planner to design, set up, and take down our wedding ceremony. She was also to set up, and take down the reception (we designed it). 4 days before the wedding she told us she had to leave town and another one of her planners would take care of us. I gave her diagrams of what we wanted for our aisle, what we wanted on the tables, and the room layout. Long story short, things were broken, missing, and backwards. I can go into more detail if needed. She has offered to give us our money back, although we haven’t met with her to know if that’s true. Should this be enough?
Asked on October 14, 2011 under Business Law, Iowa
Answers:
SJZ, Member, New York Bar / FreeAdvice Contributing Attorney
Answered 13 years ago | Contributor
You probably do have a lawsuit against the wedding planner, if she did not provide the agreed upon services and/or provided them in a negligent (careless) fashion, whether herself or through some person covering for her. Either she would have breached her contract or she would have caused you a loss or damages through negligence.
However, what you could sue for is most likely a return of the money you had paid her, and/or possibly for the value of the things she actually broke or lost. If the return of you money would be all or most of what you could potentially recover, then--if she actually follows through and gives it back to you--you may not need to sue; if you get back most or all of what the lawsuit would be worth, then there is no value to actually filing the lawsuit. If she doesn't follow through, then you could likely sue her.
IMPORTANT NOTICE: The Answer(s) provided above are for general information only. The attorney providing the answer was not serving as the attorney for the person submitting the question or in any attorney-client relationship with such person. Laws may vary from state to state, and sometimes change. Tiny variations in the facts, or a fact not set forth in a question, often can change a legal outcome or an attorney's conclusion. Although AttorneyPages.com has verified the attorney was admitted to practice law in at least one jurisdiction, he or she may not be authorized to practice law in the jurisdiction referred to in the question, nor is he or she necessarily experienced in the area of the law involved. Unlike the information in the Answer(s) above, upon which you should NOT rely, for personal advice you can rely upon we suggest you retain an attorney to represent you.