Opinion ID: 2791704
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Term

Text: The conclusion that the Debtor met the standard for proving unconscionability is supported by the bankruptcy court’s determination that neither the evidence nor the law supported the long term of the 2007 and 2008 AMAs (recall that the 2007 AMA was for a twenty-year term with four two-year extensions options exercisable by Wilson, and the 2008 AMA was for twenty or twenty-five years with Wilson’s option to extend for four two-year terms). The court credited the testimony of Mickey Gilley that a typical management agreement would be for three to five years with renewal options the same length as the original term. The court set forth Gilley’s extensive experience in the entertainment industry (he had been in the industry since 1957, had experience as a 16 country music performer and as a country music nightclub owner, and he owned a country music theater in Branson, Missouri for twenty-four years), and reviewed his testimony about what he had seen and experienced in that industry. The court used the seven-year maximum duration for a personal services contract under California statute as a guide (acknowledging that Virginia does not have such a statute). See CAL. LAB. CODE § 2855(a). And, it used the 2005 AMA (drafted by an attorney, not Wilson) as a benchmark. The court showed that the California statute and the 2005 AMA were consistent with Gilley’s testimony. According to Wilson, one method of consideration for the extended term of the 2008 AMA, rendering it appropriate, was that Wilson waived his right to collect investments in the Debtor’s career totaling over $100,000. The bankruptcy court properly pointed out the deficiencies with that argument, as we discuss in our discussion of Wilson’s claim of a lost investment below. In addition, the court acknowledged other arguments made by Wilson (such as that it takes longer to develop the career of an impressionist than it does to develop the career of other artists, and that once developed, the career of an impressionist tends to last longer), and discredited them and him in light of his limited experience managing performers and his lack of experience managing an impressionist. We see no error with this. And, as the bankruptcy court pointed out, Wilson had the Debtor initial the paragraph of the 2007 AMA extending the term, but no other paragraph of that AMA. As the bankruptcy court stated, Wilson’s testimony regarding why he had the Debtor initial the twenty-year term in the 2007 AMA (that the twenty-year term looked awkward and that he wanted to be clear this was not a short-term project) showed that Wilson knew that term for the agreement was at least unusual.