BUS LAW

Contracts: in order to create a valid contract, you must have: 

  • Offer,

  • Acceptance,

  • And Consideration 

  • Contract = K

  • Breach of Contract = BOK

Offer: the outward manifestation of present contract intent to be bound by certain and definite terms communicated to the offeree

Certain and definite terms: QTIPS

  • Q: quantity 

  • T: time for performance 

  • I: interested parties 

  • P: price term

  • S: subject matter 

Lucy v. Zehmer

  • MC/FRQ

  • Wants to buy Ferguson farm from the landowner, but landowner was not interested

  • Sat in a diner agreeing to sell the farm 

  • Drank beer while doing the contract, but did not stick through 

  • Breach of contract

  • Issue with offer

  • Not a valid offer because there was a consumption of alcohol during the making of the offer 

  • Not drinking when they talked first about selling the farm

  • Farm ended up being sold 

Ways to Destroy An Offer

  • Red Rover Does Lapse During School

  • R: Revocation: only the offeror can take back their offer 

  • R: Rejection: only the offeree can reject an offer

  • D: Death of a party: when a party dies, the offer dies 

  • L: Lapse of time: time has expired

  • D: Destruction of Subject Matter: wanting to buy a horse, but the horse dies during the offer

  • S: Insanity: if you can prove the other person is insane, offer is destroyed 

Ways to Keep an Offer Open

  1. Option contract: keeps an offer open for a stated period of time and is supported by consideration; it is a different contract of its own

  2. Firm Offer Rule

Acceptance

  • Rule: when you accept, you cannot change the offer rules

  • Mirror Image Rule: there must not be any variances or changes to the terms of the offer 

  • Grumbling acceptance: look for words like, “I wished, had hoped for, desired a better deal but, ok” these words are deemed valid word of an acceptance 

  • Look for counter offers: rejection of the offer and creation of a new offer 

  • Mailbox Rule: acceptance is valid on dispatch, rejection is valid on receipt; whenever you have an acceptance given first in time, it will always prevail

    • Acception anytime once it leaves, rejection anytime when it gets to the offeror 



Consideration

  • Rule: the bargained for exchange or a legal detriment 

  • 3 items that are potential issues: 

  • past consideration 

    • NO consideration

    • Yvette is on the floor, you save her life, she thanks you and offers you money, you ask for the money but she says no, there is no contract and so NO consideration, considered as a gift not a contract 

    • Yvette on the floor and said “if you save my life, I will give you money,” there is a contract and agreement 

  • Pre-existing Duty rule

    • Party already has the obligation to do whatever the situation is

    • Mom telling detective “I will give you money if you find my child”, once child is found, did not give money because it is the detective’s job 

  • Promissory estoppel

    • The promisor makes a promise to the promisee and the promisee detrimentally relies on the promise made and undue hardship would result if the promise is seen all the way through 

    • 9am in the morning you get a phone call from your grandfather that lives in Oregon, grandfather asks hru and tells you that he has a few months left, wants you to be with them during his last few months and will give you money, wedding ring etc. ,Yvette will be there and tells Chapman and her husband, 10am father called and told her grandfather already passed, 4:45pm yvette was at the attorney estate and at 5pm the father and uncle showed up to get the heirs, offer was made between yvette and grandpa but although she did not serve him, it is valid through promissory estoppel

    • Yvette relies on the promise made by her grandfather, the hardship is not having a job anymore because she was replaced

Types of Contracts - (bilateral contract) A fictitious contract created by the court to prevent an unjust enrichment 

  • implied /expressed contract: 

  • Valid contract: when it met offer, valid, and consideration  

  • Void contract: 

  • Voidable contract: can be voided at the option of the party

  • Unilateral contract: a promised exchange for an act, very rare contracts, bridge hypotheticals given are unilateral

  • Bilateral contract: a promise in exchange for a promise, majority contracts

  • Quasi-Contracts: fictitious contract created by the court to prevent an unjust enrichment; pool hypothetical 

  • Executed contracts: contracts that are fully performed. ex. both parties have fully completed their tasks 

  • Executory contract: contracts that have been only performed on one side ex. only one party has done it but not the other like picking up a dog at 11:45am, only one person has completed it 

Statute of Frauds 

MRDOG

M: Marriage s by their very terms cannot be completed within one year 

R: Reality 

D: answering for the debt of another 

O: contrac s by their very terms cannot be completed within one year 

G: Goods of $500 or more

Invalid contract if: 

S: signed writing, applied all to MRDOG

P: part performance

M: main purpose doctrine 

F: full performance 

R: receipt in full on point ← goods on $



Conditions - time for performance 

  • Condition precedent: that party has to go first; precedes the other  

  • Condition subsequent: the party that goes after

  • Condition concurrent: same time