Bus Law Exam #3

Contract

A legally enforceable agreement

Bilateral Contract

A promise made in exchange for another promise

Executory Contract

An agreement in which one or more parties has not yet fulfilled its obligations

Executed contract

An agreement in which all parties have fulfilled their obligations

Valid contract

An agreement that satisfies all of the law’s requirements

Unenforceable agreement

An agreement in which the parties intend to form a valid bargain, but a court declares that some rule of law prevents enforcing it

Voidable contract

An agreement that may be terminated by one of the parties

Void agreement

A contract that neither party can enforce because the bargain is illegal or one of the parties had no legal authority to make it

Express contract

An agreement with all the important terms explicitly stated

Promissory estoppel

A possible remedy for an injured plaintiff in a case with no valid contract, when the plaintiff can show a promise, reasonable reliance, and injustice

Quasi-contract

A possible remedy for an injured plaintiff in a case with no valid contract, when the plaintiff can show benefit to the defendant, reasonable expectation of payment, and unjust enrichment 

Contract checklist

1)Offer

2)Acceptance

3)Consideration

4)Legality

5)Capacity

6)Consent

7)Writing

Offer

A deal involving buying, selling or performing a service

Acceptance

A type of response to an offer

Consideration

There must be an exchange between the parties;both must receive a measurable benefit

Legality

Lawful purpose (i.e., not for selling narcotics)

Capacity

Both parties must be adults of sound mind

Consent

Consent by a party must be free of force or fraud

Writing

Verbal agreements can be contracts, but certain types of agreements must be in writing to be valid

Performance and discharge

If performance of an act occurred, the performance is discharged. Complications arise when an obligation is performed poorly or not at all.

Remedies

A breach of contract can result in a court award or other relief given to the injured party

Three issues to analyze a contract

1) Is the promise act certain?

2)If so, is it just to make a party honor its word?

3) If there is no promise, are there any unusual or compelling reasons to hold the party liable?

Noncompetition agreement

A contract where one party agrees not to compete with another