Final answer:
The court will seek to protect Joey's expected interest in his lawsuit against Monica, aiming to award him damages equivalent to the unpaid portion of the contract price.
Step-by-step explanation:
In the scenario where Joey sues Monica for breaching their contract by only paying half of the agreed-upon fee for his geopolitical analysis services, the court will seek to protect Joey's expectation interest.
Expectation interest is designed to put the injured party in the position they would have been in had the contract been fulfilled as agreed. In this case, Joey expected to receive $20,000 for his services and the court will likely aim to enforce this expectation by awarding him damages equivalent to the unpaid portion of the contract price, which is $10,000.