CACI VF-302 Breach of Contract—Affirmative Defense—Duress

California Civil Jury Instructions CACI

VF-302 Breach of Contract—Affirmative Defense—Duress


We answer the questions submitted to us as follows:

1.Did [name of plaintiff] use a wrongful act or wrongful threat to pressure [name of defendant] into consenting to the contract?

 Yes   No

If your answer to question 1 is yes, then answer question 2. If you answered no, stop here, answer no further questions, and have the presiding juror sign and date this form.

2.Was [name of defendant] so afraid or intimidated by the wrongful act or wrongful threat that [he/she/nonbinary pronoun] did not have the free will to refuse to consent to the contract?

 Yes   No

If your answer to question 2 is yes, then answer question 3. If you answered no, stop here, answer no further questions, and have the presiding juror sign and date this form.

3.Would [name of defendant] have consented to the contract without the wrongful act or wrongful threat?

 Yes   No

Signed:Presiding Juror
Dated: 

After [this verdict form has/all verdict forms have] been signed, notify the [clerk/bailiff/court attendant] that you are ready to present your verdict in the courtroom.


Directions for Use

The special verdict forms in this section are intended only as models. They may need to be modified depending on the facts of the case. This form is not a stand-alone verdict form. It may be incorporated into VF-300, Breach of Contract, if the elements of the affirmative defense are at issue.

This verdict form is based on CACI No. 332, Affirmative Defense—Duress. The verdict forms do not address all available affirmative defenses. The parties may need to create their own verdict forms to fit the issues involved in the case.

If there are multiple causes of action, users may wish to combine the individual forms into one form. If different damages are recoverable on different causes of action, replace the damages tables in all of the verdict forms with CACI No. VF-3920, Damages on Multiple Legal Theories.