AMI 2519 Buyer's Damages for Non–Delivery, Rejection or Revocation
Ark. Model Jury Instr., Civil AMI 2519
Arkansas Model Jury Instructions-Civil
December 2023 Update
Chapter 25. UCC Sales Contracts
AMI 2519 Buyer's Damages for Non–Delivery, Rejection or Revocation
[If you decide for (buyer) on the question of (insert particular issue involved)] [If an interrogatory requires you to assess the damages of (buyer)], you must then fix the amount of money that will reasonably and fairly compensate [him][her][it] for [any of] the following (number) element(s) of damage:
[First: The return of so much of the price as has been paid;][and]
[Second: The difference between the contract price and the cost of goods reasonably purchased in good faith and without unreasonable delay in substitution for those due from (seller);]
[Second: The difference between the contract price and the market price of the goods at the time (buyer) learned of the breach by (seller);] [and]
[Third: Any (incidental)(or)(consequential) damages as explained in these instructions.]
Whether [this][(either) (any) of these] element(s) of damage has been proved by the evidence is for you to determine.
[Any damages recoverable by (buyer) are to be reduced by any expenses saved in consequence of the breach by (seller).]
NOTE ON USE
Since this instruction will be used in all cases where goods were either not delivered or were not accepted, insert in the first bracketed sentence the particular issues involved in the case (e.g., seller's non-delivery, buyer's rejection, buyer's revocation of acceptance).
The alternatives contained in the second element are mutually exclusive. Use the first alternative when the buyer has elected to cover; otherwise, use the second alternative.
The third element should be used in conjunction with AMI 2521 and AMI 2522 when incidental and/or consequential damages are claimed.
Use the final bracketed paragraph when there is evidence of saved expense.
COMMENT
This instruction is based on Ark. Code Ann. § 4-2-711, which prescribes the buyer's remedies for undelivered or unaccepted goods. Ark. Code Ann. § 4-2-712 prescribes the measure of damages where the buyer has elected to cover, and § 4-2-713 prescribes the measure in all other cases.
Other remedies available to the buyer, such as specific performance, replevin of goods identified to the contract, and enforcement of the security interest in rejected goods, will usually be issues for the court. If there are fact issues for a jury pertinent to such remedies, appropriate instructions should be prepared.
Failure to cover does not bar a buyer from resorting to other remedies, Ark. Code Ann. § 4-2-712(3), but it can bar recovery of consequential damages that could have reasonably been prevented. See Ark. Code Ann. § 4-2-715(2)(a). The doctrine of avoidable consequences, under which one cannot recover damages flowing from consequences that might reasonably have been avoided, requires only reasonable diligence and ordinary care, and does not require large expense. Lake Village Implement Co., Inc. v. Cox, 252 Ark. 224, 231, 478 S.W.2d 36, 42 (1972).
© 2023 Arkansas Supreme Court Committee on Jury Instructions-Civil
| End of Document |