In State X, persons must be at least eighteen years old before they can purchase alcoholic beverages. The state also has passed a law requiring that persons who prepare and serve liquor in the form of drinks in commercial establishments be licensed. The only requirement for obtaining a yearly license is that the person be at least eighteen years old. Moffitt, aged thirty-five, is hired as a bartender for the Lone Star Restaurant. Bekins, a staunch alumnus of a nearby university, brings twenty of his friends to the restaurant to celebrate a football victory. Bekins has ordered four rounds of drinks, and the bar bill exceeds $200. Bekins learns that Moffitt has failed to renew his bartender's license, and Bekins refuses to pay, claiming the contract is unenforceable. Is Bekins correct?
What will be an ideal response?
Contracts made with unlicensed persons may or may not be enforceable. There are basically two types of licensing statutes: those considered regulatory (designed to protect the public welfare from unauthorized and unqualified practitioners) and those whose underlying purpose is to raise revenues or whose control of practice is not tied to specific, required skills. Under the statutes declared regulatory, contracts made with an unlicensed person are illegal and unenforceable. For statutes declared other than regulatory, contracts are enforceable. In some cases, the statute itself expressly bars enforcement of contracts made with an unlicensed person. These statutes are obviously regulatory. For all other statutes, the courts will look to the underlying purpose of the requirement of the license. In this case, it appears that the license requirement is not tied to any skill necessary for the protection of the welfare of society. The only requirement is that the person be age eighteen, but this is also the requirement for any person to be able to purchase liquors dispensed. Therefore, most courts would enforce the contract for the bar bill that Bekins owes but would rule Moffitt guilty of a misdemeanor.
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