Contract Law Flashcards
Definition of Contract
A contract is an agreement for which the law gives a remedy for breach.
Types of Contracts
Express & Implied
Implied Contract
Implied in Fact: presumed from surrounding circumstances
Implied in Law: law creates the binding obligation
Express Contract
Can be either oral, written, or combination of both.
Governing Law
Common Law or UCC
Common Law v. UCC
UCC: Tangible Objects-cars, clothes, animals, crops, books, etc.
Common Law: Non Tangible Objects- services like real estate, employment,
Merchant Defined:
person who deals in goods of the kind or otherwise by his occupation holds himself out as having knowledge or skill peculiar to the practices or goods involved in the transaction.
Statue of Parties
UCC Differentiates between Merchants and Non-Merchants and hold Merchants to a higher standard.
Non-Merchant Defined:
All parties that are not merchants.
Valid Contract
A valid contract consists of offer, acceptance, consideration and lack of formation defenses.
Offer Defined:
An offer is a manifestation of present contractual intent, communicated to an identified offeree, containing definitive and certain terms.
Present Contractual Intent ( In an Offer)
- Judged Objectively, not Subjectively
- Would a reasonable person under the circumstances believe that the offeror is willing to be bound by a contract?
Advertisements, catalogues and quotes:
Not offers but invitations to deal, negotiate, receive offers, etc.
Communicated to an Identified Offeree ( In an Offer)
- Essential to be communicated to an identified offeree.
- Exception: not addressed to any particular offeree, someone knows off offer.
Containing Definite & Certain Terms- Majority Rule (In an offer)
Majority Rule: offer need only state the subject matter of the contract with definite and certainty. Where contract is silent, all other terms can be implied using reasonable terms.
Containing Definite and Certain Terms- Common Law (In an offer)
Offer must state all material facts of the contract. Follow Q-TIPS.
Q-TIPS
Q: Quanity
T: Time for performance
I: Interested parties
P: Price and;
S: Subject Matter
Subject Matter in Q Tips
Real Estate: Requires description of real property with adequate certainty to identify land and price.
Sale of Goods:
(a) Subject Matter & Quantity
(b) a contract under UCC will not fail for because a term is left unopened. (can be time, place, or price)
Requirement Contracts
-Requirement contracts are agreement by one party to supply all that is required by pother party.
- Always raise issue of definitive and certain terms dealing with quantity
Output Contracts
-Agreement by one party to buy all that the other party produces
- Always raise issue of definitive and certain terms dealing with quantity
Personal Services (Employment Contract)
Duration of employment and pay is required. If no duration, treat contract as one for employment at will.
Termination of an Offer
General Rule: all offers are freely revocable
Irrevocable Offers
- Option Contract
- Merchant’s Firm offer
- Detrimental Reliance
- Unilateral Contracts
Option Contract (irrevocable offers)
(a) Offer supported by consideration
(b) if option does not specify a time, option will remain open for reasonable time
Merchant’s Firm offer (Irrevocable Offers)
(a) Writing signed by a merchant which gives assurance that the offer will be held open is not revocable, for lack of consideration, during stated time.
(b) If no time stated, then for a reasonable time- not to exceed three months. (UCC 2-205)
Detrimental Reliance
(Irrevocable Offers)
(a) If the offeree relies on the offer;
(b) And the reliance is detrimental, reasonable, substantial, and foreseeable then,
(c) The offer must stay open for a reasonable amount of time.
Unilateral Contracts (Irrevocable Offers)
(a) An offer for a unilateral contract is irrevocable once performance has begun
(b) preparation for performance is not performance
(c) The offeror must allow the offeree a reasonable amount of time to complete performance once performance has begun.
Offeror- Revocation of Offer
(1) Offeror communicates to the offeree that they no longer want to be bound by that offer, then offer is terminated.
Offeror- Indirect Revocation
(a) Occurs if an offeree receives correct information
(b) From a reliable source
(c) That the offeror no longer wants to be bound to the offer
(d) Offers to third parties are insufficient.
(e) Rumors are insufficient.
Revocation of Offer to the Public
May only be revoked by notification to the public by the same means in which the offer was communicated if reasonably available.
Counter Offer (Revocation of offer)
Acts as a rejection
Conditional Acceptance (Revocation of an offer)
Always a counteroffer under Common Law
Operation of Law (In an Offer)
(1) Offer will lapse after a reasonable amount of time
(2) Time Determined by: market conditions, nature of subject matter and trade and custom usage.
(3) Face-to-face Negotiations: unless words are to the contrary, offer will terminate when the parties leave each other’s presence
(4) Death/Incapacity:
Death terminates the offer at the time of death, incapacity terminated offer at the time the other party learns of incapacity. Only exception is irrevocable offers are not terminated by death or incapacity of either party.
(5) Destruction of Subject Matter or Supervening illegality will terminate an offer.
Acceptance
An unequivocal assent to terms of an offer.
Common Law- Acceptance
(a) Acceptance must be a “Mirror Image” of the offer.
(b) Additional, Different, or Missing terms would result in a reject and a counteroffer
Common Law- Acceptance-Last Shot Rule
(a) The last expression before performance controls.
(b) One party does not return rejection/counteroffer but performs.
(c) Court finds an implied acceptance by performance controls.
Acceptance with Different Terms- UCC 2-207(2)
Definition: Additional terms are terms that are first mentioned in the acceptance.
UCC 2-207- Acceptance
(a) UCC 2-207(1): An acceptance with additional or different terms is still a valid acceptance.
(b) Even under the UCC a conditional acceptance is rejection/counteroffer.
Acceptance with Different Terms- UCC 2-207(2): As Between merchant
(a) Offer limits acceptance to terms of the offer;
(b) Offeror objects within a reasonable time or
(c) Terms materially alter the contract (any term resulting in hardship, economic risks, benefits, etc.)
(d) If one party is a non-merchant, the additional terms will be ignored and not become a part of the contract.
(e) If term does not become apart of contract, then the terms results in proposal for the additional term that requires express assent.
Acceptance with Different Terms- Definition
Different terms are terms that are mentioned in the offer and are again mentioned in the acceptance, only differently.
Because 2-207(2) only refers to “additional terms” the majority of courts believe that UCC 2-207(2) does not apply to different terms.
Acceptance with Different Terms-Majority Rule v. Minority Rule
Majority Rule: different terms get “knocked out” and one applies gap fillers, custom, and usage, and course of dealing or performance.
Minority Rile: different terms in acceptance are ignored and the terms of the offer control.
*CA treats different terms the same as additional terms”
UCC 2-207 (3)
(a) Parties exhcange rejections/counteroffers
(b) One party does not return rejection/counteroffer but performs
(c) UCC Does not imply an acceptance by performance. (Last Shot Rule)
(d) Conduct by both parties which recognizes the existence of a contract is sufficient to establish a contract for sale
Modes of Acceptance
(1) Bilateral Contract
(2) Unilateral Contract
(3) UCC 2-206
*If ambiguous as to whether it is unilateral or bilateral, most courts consider it to be bilateral. *
Mode of Acceptance- Bilateral contract
Return promise to perform.
Mode of Acceptance- Unilateral Contract
Complete performance plus notice.
UCC 2-206
(1) Acceptance by promise to ship
(2) Acceptance by shipment of conforming goods
(3) Acceptance by shipment of non-conforming goods.
3(a): If seller reasonably notifies buyer the shipment if offered only as an accommodation, the shipment of non-conforming goods does not constitute an acceptance but a counteroffer.
3(b) If there is no letter of accommodation, then shipment of non-confirming goods will be acceptance and breach.
Manner of Acceptance
Manner is required by offer.