Exercise 6. Resume in industry buzz: Offer: commitment communicated to identified offeree & containing definite terms
1. Commitment: reas. person hearing words under these circum.
believes speaker intends to enter into K (OBJECTIVE) (Public ad to identified offeree, 1st 10, is an offer)
-> Code's way of objectively determining is course of dealing – worst is actual words used
2. Communicated to ID'd Offeree (ACTUAL KNOWLEDGE)
-> Another can tell him; public offer accepts & is ID'd at same time
3. Containing Definite Terms: must address s/matter of K w/ certainty to be valid a. Real Estate (desc. & price)
b. Goods (quantity, except offers for total requiremts based on past hx or offers for total outputs are based on last yr output or most mfrs)
c. Services (term of e/mt by task or time, unless not stated then at will)
-> All other material terms supplied by ct, but if offer tries to address material term, must do so w/certainty or offer is INVALID
4. Limits on Terminating Offers a. Merchant Firm Offer Rule: Merchant who puts offer in writing & it says will hold open Xtime or indefinitely (Rrrevocable for time stated but not open more than 3 mos. w/o consideration b. Option K (like a mini-K): consideration to hold open or consideration substitute; substitute when offeree detrimentally, reas. & foreseeably relies on offer (sub bid) (detrimental reliance or prom. estoppel used)
c. Offer to Make Unilateral K: to give time to perform. Reasons can't terminate (best to worst) (1) stay open reas. time if perf. Begun (2) reliance by offeree – supplies (3) doctrine of divisibility – reas. time to complete any "in works" (4) implied bilateral prom. to complete by commencing perf.
5. Ways to Terminate b/4 Acceptance a. Revocation by Offeror
(1) Express w/ ID'd offeree efftv when receives it (not read or actually knows of) w/ delivery to offeree, anyone offeree's control
Express w/ public offer revocation same or comparable medium as offer
(2) Implied when offeror does act preventing perf. and when offeree learns of act from reliable source b. Rejection by Offeree (refusal or counteroffer)
(1) Express when offeror receives or anyone in his control (no actual knowledge); can never be revived
(2) Implied (conduct) letting offer lapse past time stated or reas. time c. Operation of Law: s/matter destroyed b/4 accept; supervening illegality; death or incapacity of either offeror or offeree terminates OFFER
Unit 4
Mutual Assent and Defective Agreement
Обоюдное согласие и юридически дефектный договор
Для заключения договора необходимо выражение согласованной воли двух сторон (двустороння сделка) либо трех или более сторон (многосторонняя сделка) (раздел I ГК РФ, глава 9 "Сделки"). Сделка, совершенная под влиянием заблуждения, обмана, насилия, угрозы, злонамеренного соглашения представителя одной стороны, а также сделка, которую лицо было вынуждено совершить вследствие стечения обстоятельств на крайне невыгодных для себя условиях, или в тот момент, когда данное лицо не было способно понимать значение своих действий или руководить ими, может быть признана судом недействительной.
List of key terms and word combinations:
– business compulsion – понуждение
– concealment – сокрытие, укрывательство; утаивание, умалчивание
– duress – принуждение
– fiduciary relationship – фидуциарные отношения
– fraud – обман; мошенничество
– liable – подлежащий ответственности
– material fact – существенный факт
– misrepresentation – введение в заблуждение; искажение фактов
– mutual assent – обоюдное согласие, совпадение намерений сторон
– nondisclosure – неоглашение, нераскрытие
– rescission – аннулирование, расторжение, прекращение
– undue influence – злоупотребление влиянием; недолжное влияние
Each party to a contract is protected from the chicanery of the other or from certain mistakes that may have crept into their agreement and destroyed mutual assent. If mutual assent has been destroyed, the contract is said to be a defective agreement, and that party is no longer bound to the terms of the agreement. A defective agreement can arise as a result of fraud, misrepresentation, mutual mistake, duress, or undue influence.
A wrongful statement, action, or concealment pertinent to the subject matter of a contract knowingly made to damage the other party defines fraud. If proved, fraud destroys any contract and makes the wrongdoer liable (i.e., legally responsible) to the injured party for all losses that result.
To destroy mutual assent on a claim of active or passive fraud, the complaining, or innocent, party must prove the existence of five elements:
1. The complaining party has to show that the other party made a false representation about some material fact (i.e., an important fact, a fact of substance) involved in the contract. A material fact is very crucial to the terms of the contract.
2. It must be demonstrated that the other party made the representation knowing of its falsity.
3. It must be revealed that the false representation was intended to be relied upon by the innocent party.
4. The complaining party must demonstrate that there was a reasonable reliance on the false representation.
5. It must be shown that the innocent party actually suffered some loss by relying on the false representation after entering the contract.
When one party to a contract makes a false statement intended to deceive the other party and thus leads that party into a deceptively based agreement, active fraud occurs.
To be fraudulent, statements must involve facts.
In contrast, passive fraud, which is generally called concealment or nondisclosure, occurs when one party does not offer certain facts that he or she is under an obligation to reveal. If this passive conduct is intended to deceive and does, in fact, deceive the other party, fraud results.
A fiduciary relationship is a relationship based upon trust. Such a relationship exists between attorneys and clients, guardians and wards, trustees and beneficiaries, and directors and a corporation. If one party is in a fiduciary relationship with another party, then an obligation arises to reveal what otherwise might be withheld when the two parties enter an agreement.
A false statement made innocently with no intent to deceive is called misrepresentation. Innocent misrepresentation makes an existing agreement voidable, and the complaining party may demand rescission. Rescission means that both parties are returned to their original positions before the contract was entered into. Unlike cases based on fraud, which allow rescission and damages, cases based on innocent misrepresentation allow only rescission and not money damages.
When there has been no real meeting of the minds because of a mistake, mutual assent was never achieved and the agreement may be rescinded. As in misrepresentation, mistake permits rescission.
Some mutual mistakes are universally accepted as grounds for rescission. Others can give rise to lawsuits but not in all courts or in all jurisdictions. Among them are:
1. Mistakes as to Description. When both parties are mistaken in the identification and description of subject matter, a mutual mistake exists, and rescission will be granted.
2. Mistakes as to Existence. Proof that the subject matter had been destroyed before agreement was made also gives grounds for rescission. The agreement would be voidable if it were proved that just before acceptance the subject matter had been destroyed.
3. Mistakes as to Value. When two parties agree on the value of the subject matter and later find that they were both mistaken, a mutual mistake of opinion, not of fact, has occurred. Mutual mistakes of opinion are not grounds for rescinding a contract.
4. Mistakes Through Failure to Read a Document. Failure to read a document or the negligent reading of a document does not excuse performance on the ground of a mistaken understanding of the document's contents.
5. Mistakes of Law. Misunderstandings of existing laws do not give grounds for rescission; in other words, ignorance of the law is no excuse. Rescission may be allowed, however, when mistakes have related to the law of another jurisdiction.
Duress and undue influence rob a person of the ability to make an independent, well-reasoned decision to enter a contractual relationship freely. Duress may be viewed as an action by one party that forces another party to do what need not otherwise be done. Duress forces a person into a contract through the use of physical, emotional, or economic threats. In contrast, undue influence involves only the use of excessive pressure, and also requires the existence of a confidential relationship. Undue influence should not be confused with persuasion or a subtle form of inducement.
Either violence or the threat of violence against an individual or that person's family, household, or property is physical duress. Emotional duress arises from acts or threats that would create emotional distress in the one on whom they are inflicted.