Question

E-mation, Inc hires Marvin to steal trade secrets from one of its competitor for $10,000. Marvin demands half the money up front. E-mation pays Marvin $5000 but Marvin decides not to pursue theft of trade secrets. E-mation sues Marvin for the return of the $5000. What will the court do with this contract?

1) Order Marvin to return the $5000
2) Order Marvin to return the $5000 with interest
3) Order Marvin to obtain the trade secrets
4) Not do anything to help get the money back

Answer 1

The court will not assist E-mation in recovering the $5000 paid to Marvin as part of an illegal contract to steal trade secrets, because courts do not enforce contracts involving criminal activities.

Step-by-step explanation:

The question revolves around an illegal contract where E-mation, Inc hires Marvin to steal trade secrets from a competitor and Marvin is paid $5000 in advance but then decides not to complete the illegal task. Courts do not enforce illegal contracts, and therefore, the court will most likely not assist E-mation in recovering the advance payment. Therefore, the correct answer is that the court will not do anything to help get the money back.

The rationale behind this is that the court does not want to aid or appear to support illegal activities. Additionally, to have an enforceable contract, the subject of the contract must be legal. Since the contract in question involves committing a crime, the contract is void ab initio, meaning it is considered invalid from the outset. Neither party can sue the other to enforce the terms of an illegal contract or to recover for a breach of an illegal contract.