the objective theory of assent Flashcards
shaheen v knight – p sued because of failed vasectomy, claims breach of k, issue of whether someone can sue for brech of K for failed vasec and recovner damages to cover the cost of the child
no, to allow such a damage is against public polciy/and a valid contract means one that the law has a proper remedy for
how does the restatement section one define a contract
a contract is a promise or set of promises for the breach fo which the law gives a remedy or the perormice of which the law in some way recoginzes as a duty
how does restatement section two define a promise, a promisor, and promisse
promise= manifestation of intention to act or refrain from acting in a specified way, so made as to justify a promisee in understanding that commitment has been made
promisor= the person making the promise
promisee= the person who the promise is addressed to
beneficiary – the person who will benefit from the performance, who is not the promisee
what do courts look at to see if there was a meeting of the minds
they look to the express OBJECTIVE clues to determine if there was a meeting of the minds
what does objective meeting of the minds mean
it must appear that te two minds were at one at the same moment in time
what two things does the fomration of a k require
the mutal assent of the parites and some type of showing that this assent is the type the law will enforce
embry– P went in to inquire about an extension to his employment contract to D, told D he needed to know if he would be contracted for another year so he knew if he needed to look for other work, D told him he was fine and to get back to work. P intepred as renewal of K, D just wanted to get P out of his office
if a reasonble person would understand something to be asset AND that party did understand it to be assent it’s a vaild K, regardless of the subjective meaning of the other party.
what is the embry test (objective theory of assent)
f a reasonble person would understand something to be asset AND the person did understand it to be assent , it’s a vaild K, regardless of the subjective meaning of the other party.
lucy v zhemer - Facts
P and D were at dinner, both drinking, and P wanted to buy D’s farm. They talked about for a while until finally D jokinlgy wrote up an agreement to sell the farm to P. even got his wife to sign it, still intening it to be a joke in his mind. P took it seriously and later sued when D refused to sell, claiming he wasnt be the farm to P. even got his wife to sign it, sitl
Issue
Does the subjective intent of a party matter in the formation of a contract if the objective manifestations and conduct show the other party that there is assent, and therefore a valid contract?
if a persons words and acts, judged by a reasonable standard, manifest an intention to agree, it is immaterial what bay be the real but UNEXPRESSED state of his mind.
what steps do you go through to see if there was an obective assent
the embry two prong element test
