Chance the Rapper won $35 in a $1 million lawsuit against his ex-manager. How to decide if legal action is worth it

Chance the Rapper and his former manager Pat Corcoran may be wondering whether suing one another was worth it after leaving court relatively empty-handed this month.

After just two hours of deliberation, a Cook County, Illinois jury awarded Chance a paltry $35 out of the $1 million he sought in damages from Corcoran for not doing his duties as a manager.

Meanwhile, the same jury dismissed Corcoran’s lawsuit, and his claims that the hip-hop artist owed him $3.8 million in unpaid commissions and royalties after Chance fired him in 2020.

Chance, born Chancelor Bennett, framed the jury’s $35 award as a win.

“I claim victory in the name of the Lord,” the hip-hop artist declared to the Chicago Sun-Times (1).

Corcoran’s lawyers were less convinced of Chance’s victory, calling it a split decision, with neither side coming out ahead.

The only people who would be ahead financially would be the legal teams who’ve worked on these cases for more than five years.

It’s a case study in how costly lawsuits can be.

If you’re planning on pursuing legal action — whether in small claims court or the Supreme Court — it’s important to know what you are willing to sacrifice in terms of time and money.

Especially if you could lose in court.

Confirm whether you have a case. Ask yourself, is there a breach of contract? Determining this is easier when you have a written contract to begin with.

One of the biggest problems Chance and Corcoran had winning their respective cases outright was that there were no written contracts to begin with on either side — just verbal agreements and handshakes.

“The message to music managers is clear: Get it in writing,” Jay Scharkey, a lawyer on Corcoran’s team, told the Sun-Times (1).

Emilee Boyle Gehling of Gehling Osborn Law Firm in Sioux City, Iowa, notes that even if you do have a written contract, the terms of the contract itself may not be valid in court.

“If someone comes to me with a potential breach of contract claim, the first thing I do is determine, ‘How enforceable is this?’” she told SuperLawyers (2).

These are the key elements of a legitimate contract:

• Capacity. Parties must be legally capable of entering into a contract. They must not have been coerced. Contracts with minors and people with cognitive challenges would not be deemed valid.

• Agreement. The parties must both agree to and fully understand the terms of the contract.

• Exchange. The parties must exchange things of value.

If you don’t have a written contract, or an enforceable one, it’s probably not worth going to court.

Read More: 5 essential money moves to make once you’ve saved $50,000

If you do have a case, but not the deep pockets of a rapper, you may want to go to a small claims court. These state courts generally deal with claims of $10,000 or less (3).

New York business attorney Sarah Gold recommends considering alternative dispute resolution (ADR) instead of lawsuits to address breach of contract issues (2).

This could include:

• Mediation — in which a neutral third party meets with both parties to the contract to discuss a mutually agreeable solution

• Arbitration — in which an arbitrator hears the case.

In Chance the Rapper’s case, he’s now looking for vindication in the court of public opinion.

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Chicago Sun-Times (1); Super Lawyers (2); NCSC (3)

This article provides information only and should not be construed as advice. It is provided without warranty of any kind.