First, I'm intrigued by all of the comments about the contract and about u of I and ISU attorneys when, as far as I can tell, only one poster offered the disclaimer that he was not familiar with the contract; actually, that is the ONLY appropriate response. If you don't know, for example, that an "Act of God" clause might have sufficient language to cover a pandemic, then you really can't debate whether or not a cancelation on that basis should, or should not, violate the contract. And perhaps membership in the Big Ten conference legally obligates each member school to play the schedule determined by the conference, which would explain why a trip to Rutgers might defy common sense but is still explainable. With regard to taking a smaller amount as a "settlement," u of I attorneys would be justifiably fired if they committed the legal malpractice of having their client pay $150,000 (or even $15.00) if contractually they should pay nothing. And if they are certain that the contract was voidable (for any reason), the theory that cost of legal fees would make a settlement attractive would provide no leverage against them. Most likely, if the u of I won the civil lawsuit, ISU would be paying their legal fees and court costs.
