In a prior post I said how The Profit 's Marcus Lemonis should probably stop with the hand-shake deals because the risk is that hand-shake deals (or "oral contracts") may not be enforceable as contracts; you usually need the agreement in writing. (Although oral contracts can be enforceable--it's complicated.) So it makes you wonder. Why would Lemonis do his hand-shake deals knowing they may not be enforceable agreements? He's no dope. He's a shrewd businessman. Lee Iacocca was his mentor . Is it a gimmick for the show? Maybe, but the consequences can be an unenforceable agreement and an "expensive lawsuit" (in his words), as in A. Stein Meats. Lemonis says he does hand-shake deals as a kind of old-school, my word is my bond, kind of thing. I'm not so sure. The other side of his hand-shake agreements is that they give Lemonis a backdoor out of a deal that looks like it's not so good after all, e.g. the Swanson's Fish Market episod...
The Law Office of Greg Curry