Agreement Flashcards
Williams v Roffey
Performance of contractual duties can be good consideration if…
a has reasonable doubt that B will perform on time and gains a practical benefit from speedy performance
B’S PROMISE CANNOT BE GIVEN AS A RESULT OF DURESS/FRAUD
Hartley v Ponsonby (sailors doing more)
Performance of an existing contractual duty was good performance because it went above of what was normally expected
Shadwell v Shadwell
Request requirement for consideration was overlooked
HOWEVER: Erle CJ based judgement on reliance rather then consideration
Bunn v Rees and Parker
ICLR in commercial arrangements
May and Butcher v The King
The courts cannot give a reasonable price in the absence of agreement - no guarantee the parties will be able to agree
Foakes v Beer
Part payment of a debt is not good consideration (even if promised, promisor can claim debt back at any later point)
Welby v Drake
Part payment of a debt by a 3rd party is good consideration because new contract
Rose and Frank v Crompton Bros.
ICLR in commercial arrangements can be drafted away
Williams v Carwardine (death bed confession)
Knowledge of the offer - motivation in responding to it irrelevant
Felthouse v Bindley (uncle + nephew)
Silence/inactivity does not constitute acceptance, has to be communicated
Willes J: no right to impose sale, keep in mind practice of inertia selling
Adams v Lindsell
Postal rule: acceptance sent by post occurs at the moment of posting
JUSTIFICATION: knowledge of acceptance –> knowledge of knowledge of acceptance …
Sale of Goods Act, s. 57(2)
Fall of auctioneer’s hammer = acceptance
Mountford v Scott
Offer can not be revoked when consideration has been given. Here £1 paid turned converted offer into option (binding contract)
Daulia v Four Millbank Nominees
Complete performance in unilateral contracts = acceptance
Here: asking to send written agreement = unilateral offer
Smith v Hughes (old oats)
The parties intentions are objectively evaluated - what is reasonably believed to be the ether’s intention/grounds to rely on
Powell v Lee
Acceptance can be communicated by a 3rd party (authorised by offeree)
Re Selctmove
Williams v Roffey criteria cannot be extended to debt
Dickinson v Dodds
Revocation can be communicated by a 3rd party.
COMPARE to snapping up cases, but James LJ based judgement on ad idem principle
Balfour v Balfour
No ICLR in domestic arrangements
Partridge v Crittenden
Adverts = ITT
Still v Myrick (sailors)
Performance of an existing contractual duty is not good consideration
Hyde v Wrench
A counter offer terminates original offer
No-reserve auction
An auction in which the item for sale will be sold regardless of price
Chappell and Co v Nestle
Consideration must be sufficient (in the eyes of the law) NOT adequate
Chocolate wrappers = consideration
Treitel on “Offer”
“An expression of willingness to contract on specified terms made with the intention that it is to become legally binding as it is accepted”
Hartog v Colin and Shields (Argentinian hare skins)
Snapping up case
BRS v Arthur Crutchley || Butler Machine Corp v Ex-Cell-O
The battle of the forms: exchange sets of standard terms and conditions which are inconsistent –> a variation in terms has the effect of creating a counter offer
Household Fire Insurance Co v Grant
Postal rule applies even if letter is lost/destroyed
Thesiger LJ: no hardship because post usually doesn’t fail
Storer v MCC
An offer must be clear and certain. “Will” was
White v Bluett (son complaining)
Giving up a legal right you don’t have is not good consideration
Fisher v Bell (flick knife in show window)
Display of goods in shop window = ITT
Luxor v Cooper
Acceptance of unilateral offers
STRICT VIEW: full performance needed. Lord Russel’s reasoning - worth the risk
McKendrick on ICLR
Do the dealings justify legal consequences?
See Parker v Clark (care arrangement): no relation but parties must have envisaged that legal remedy would be available upon breach
Collins v Godefroy (subpoenaed)
Performance of a public duty is not good consideration
Stevenson, Jacques and Co v McLean
Requests for further information will not be counter offers and therefor not terminate original offers.
Lush J: counter offer must constitute offer that can be accepted. Interrogatory language? Matter ancillary to contract? Change of material terms?
Conditions for Consideration
1) Consideration must not be past.
2) Consideration must move from the promisee to the promisor
3) Consideration must be sufficient but need not be adequate
4) Performance of an existing duty is not good consideration
5) Part payment of a debt is not good consideration