Student sues lawyer for reneging on $1million offer
10 July 2009
A law student is suing a defence lawyer in the US, claiming that his promise of $1million on TV amounted to an offer capable of acceptance by a viewer.

US lawyer James Cheney Mason was defending a client accused of murder. He claimed that the prosecution's case relied on his client being able to get from the airport to his hotel, where he was seen on a CCTV camera, in just 28 minutes. Mason claimed that this was absolutely impossible and that therefore, the prosecution had no case against his client. And he was so sure of this that he offered $1million on national TV to anyone who could prove him wrong.

Which is exactly what law student Dustin Kolodziej did - managing to retrace the journey within 28 minutes. When he tried to claim the prize Mason refused to pay up, and warned that he would consider any further attempts to obtain the money as attempted extortion.

Money. That's what Kolodziej wants.

Kolodiziej has now filed a claim for breach of contract against Mason and is suing him for the $1million. Mason has reportedly described the action as "stupid" and "ridiculous". He is also thought not to believe in carbolic smoke balls.