Lucy v. Zehmer- (Supreme Court of Appeals of Virginia, 1954)

Lando Calrissian operated a classy restaurant on Corellia before he became the classy administrator of the classiest Cloud City on Bespin. Han Solo, a friend of Lando's who was severely lacking class and hoping to obtain some, came to Lando's restaurant just before close one night and offered to buy Lando's classiest vessel, the Millenium Falcon. Han had discussed this matter with Lando many times before, and each time Lando had politely but sternly assured his "good buddy" that the Falcon simply was not for sale.

This night, Han brought with him a large box of "space wine" and the two began to drink and once again discuss the terms under which Han might buy the Falcon. Han claimed that he could pay 50,000 Imperial Credits cash that he had just saved up from several smuggling jobs via the Kessel Run. Lando said that for 50,000 he'd accept (believing his "good buddy" to be lying and wishing to call his bluff) and sell the Falcon to Han. In an attempt to force Han to admit he didn't have the credits, he even wrote out a contract of sale on the back of one of the restaurant's receipt, and signed it. Han then grabbed the receipt and offered Lando 5 credits down payment to seal the deal. Lando declined, still thinking that Han didn't have the credits. Han then proceeded to get Chewbacca to help him get the rest of the funding together.

When Han came to Lando a week later with the "contract" and the 50,000 credits, Lando refused to convey the start up code to the Falcon, stating that he had been "joking" and that he had never intended to sell the Falcon, that it had all been a joke. Han sued for specific performance, and the court granted, stating that it would have been impossible for Han or anyone else (who wasn't a telepath) to know that Lando was joking from his outward appearance. Lando claimed in court that he was very drunk from the space wine, but the court was not convinced, knowing full well that Lando was a man who could handle his liquors.

Gammon v. Osteopathic Hospital of Maine- (Supreme Court of Maine, 1987)

Lobot, Lando Calrissian's assistant on the floating Cloud City on Bespin was grieving his recently deceased mother, as well as the loss of his employer Lando Calrissian due to his high-stakes contracting with the Empire (see Williams v Thomas-Walker Furniture Co- (Federal Court of Appeals-DC Circuit, 1965). Later that day, Lobot received a package from the Cloud City infirmary that he believed contained his dead mother's personal effects. When he opened the bag, he discovered that it only contained Luke Skywalker's severed hand, which while cauterized by Darth Vader's lightsaber strike, had begun to rot and turned blue in the process.

Lobot claimed to suffer emotional distress from the incident, having cyborg/human relations malfunctions and administration-related nightmares, growing distant from his family. Lobot did not report any physical ailments suffering from his emotional distress, nor did he seek professional help from the Cloud City counselor.

He sued the Cloud City infirmary for emotional damages. The court ruled that while Lobot was not within the "zone of danger", he had satisfied the court's newly established test that an individual must suffer "more emotional damage than a reasonable cyborg could bear", and held that the infirmary was obviously negligent in its mishandling of bodily remains. The court also noted that as family member of someone who was recently deceased, Lobot was much more likely to be trustworthy, limiting concerns of future floods of litigation.

Bethel v. New York City Transit Authority- (Court of Appeals, New York, 1998)

Jek Porkins was sitting in transit on his way to a briefing at the Tierfon Rebel Base when his seat collapsed beneath him. Porkins sued the Rebel Transit Authority for negligence. Though Porkins had no proof that the Rebels knew of the defective seat, he stated that the Authority owed him the "highest duty of care" as a common carrier for Rebel forces, and that they had constructive notice of the problem due to repairs of the seat 11 days earlier. While a trial court found for Porkins, the ruling was overturned, stating that the extraordinary requirements of the common law for common carriers was unacceptably harsh. The court instead opted for the establishment of a "reasonable person" standard, which is far more flexible. The case was remanded to a lower court for a new trial based on the "reasonable person" standard.

Hypothetical 1 [See Popov v. Hayashi- (Superior Court, San Francisco County, California, 2002)]

The Corellian Corvette Tantive IV is in open space. Two ships are nearby, one an Imperial Star Destroyer Devastator, another, a bounty hunting vessel piloted by Cradossk. Cradossk is able to capture the Tantive IV by tractor beam, and begins to pull the ship in when a rogue vessel fires upon him, causing the ship's tractor beam to malfunction. At this point the Devastator overtakes and captures the Tantive IV. Cardossk sues the captain of the Devastator for possession of the Tantive IV. What result?

*The author wishes to note that hypotheticals may not be accurate in regards to official Star Wars cannon. These hypothetical situations are intended to assist in legal analysis, rather than convey accurate Star Wars history.

Hawkins v. McGee- (New Hampshire Supreme Court, 1929)

While coming in for several routine tune ups for his cybernetic prosthetic, Medical Droids 2-1B and FX-7 attempted to persuade Luke Skywalker that they could repair his hand and make it "as good as new", further promising him "one hundred percent good hand".

Despite their poor grammar, after several visits the Droids were successful and Luke agreed to undergo their procedure. The droids used an experimental form of "skin grafting" and removed skin from Luke's chest to use as the "new" tissue for the hand. Unfortunately, the tissue used for the graft continued to grow chest hair, and Luke's hand became increasingly hairy, leading to his need to wear a black glove over the hand at almost all times (see, Return of the Jedi).

Luke sued the droids for breach of contract, as well as pain and suffering. The court dismissed the claim for pain and suffering stating that these effects were inherently a part of the procedure that Luke agreed to; however, the court did hold that the Droids were liable to Luke for breach of contract, and that the damages the Droids owed to Luke should be equal to the difference to the hand he received (one that was disgusting and hairy) and the one he was promised (one that was "one hundred percent good hand"). This was based on the reasoning of "expectation interest" which aims to place Luke in the position he would have been, had the Droids not breached the contract.