Abbariao v. Hamline University School of Law

In Abbariao v. Hamline University School of Law (Minn. 1977) 258 N.W.2d 108, the Court rejected a student's argument that the school breached its contract when it failed to offer him a tutorial seminar after he received failing grades. The court noted that the student was relying on a promise made three years earlier by the school's predecessor, a promise no longer in effect because the school's bulletin stated that its provisions were subject to change without notice, and the student accepted this provision each time he paid his semester tuition. (Id. at pp. 113-114.) The court did not reject the student's breach of contract action outright, but concluded only that the school could not be held to a promise made by another institution. (Ibid.) The court stated that a new contract was formed each time the plaintiff paid his tuition for that semester. (Id. at p. 114.) The court rejected plaintiff's breach of contract claim based on a promise three years earlier with a different law school that a tutorial seminar would be offered when the bulletin noted that " 'all provisions within this bulletin were subject to change without notice.' " (Ibid.)