Contract negotiations for a downtown Cincinnati building – abutting the southbound I-71 entrance ramp – became the perfect vehicle for the First Appellate District to apply traditional contract principles to modern contract formation. After Frank Albi’s prolonged struggle to find a purchaser for his company’s piece of real estate, he began negotiating with two interested buyers simultaneously. When Albi agreed to sell to one interested buyer, the other buyer, Joe Vogel, brought a lawsuit against Albi and Third Street Associates, LLC (“Third Street”) for breach of contract. The ensuing litigation provided insight as to how the First District applies the law of contract formation when the contract is purportedly formed via email.
