Contract Law (Overview) Flashcards
civil wrong
lawsuit
injunction
get court to tell other party to stop doing something
elements of a contract (5)
- offer
- acceptance
- consideration
- capacity
- legality
* if missing an element, contract is not legally binding
offeree
party to whom offer is made
counter-offer
rejection of original offer, followed up by new offer
expressing acceptance (2)
- does not always need to be expressed in words
- can be communicated by conduct or even silence
capacity
legal ability to bind oneself to a contract
aggrieved party can seek (4)
- monetary relief
- specific performance
- rescission and restitution
- injunction
liquidated damages (3)
- parties agree ahead of time that if one party breaches, that party will pay a certain amount of money to the nonbreaching party
- damages have to be reasonable as to subject matter
- predetermined
specific performance and example
- rare cases, when monetary damages will not suffice, breaching party must perform terms of contract bc money will not suffice to compensate non-breaching party
example: sculptor
offeror
party making the offer
offer (2)
- a proposal to form a contract made by offeror to offeree
- promise, commitment to do something, or to refrain from doing something in the future
acceptance (4)
- offeree accepts offer
- offer may be accepted only by the person to whom it is made
- offeree cant reject offer and then try to accept it
- once offer is rejected, offer dies
legal detriment
some benefit exchanged between parties
court judgement and consideration
exception
- courts will not use own judgement about consideration; up to the parties to decide what consideration should be paid
- exception: some types of fraud, misrepresentation, duress, or mistake in contract
legality (2)
- underlying transaction must be legal for contract to be valid and enforceable
- subject matter must be legal
what happens when contract is not performed (2)
- breach of contract
- court tries to place the aggrieved party in same economic position he would have had if the contract had been performed
rescission (2)
- court “undoes” contract and puts parties back into positions they occupied before contract was agreed upon
- happens particularly with fraud
restitution
both parties make restitution to each other by returning whatever good, property, and so on that were transferred under the contract or an equivalent amount of money
contract
agreement between 2 or more parties which creates an obligation to do or not to do a particular thing
monetary relief (2)
- monetary damages to put parties in same economic position as if contract had been performed
- liquidated damages
consideration (2)
- must be an “exchange of value” to legally bind parties
- one party gives up or does something in return for the other party’s doing the same
lack of capacity (3)
- minors (under 18)
- persons mentally incompetent
- those who lack the capacity to understand the nature and consequences of the transaction in question
