Contract Law | Business Law Assignment

Name of the student
Business
Law
Assignmen
t
Analysis of Case study

Business Law Assignment
Introduction
Contract is a simple term, used commonly in daily terminology. However, when it comes
to legal discussions, the term becomes complicated, due to the range of elements that are
involved in the formation and adherence of a contract. This discussion undertakes a journey of
different elements of contract law formation, along with highlighting the elements of breach of a
legally created contract. Being a complex field of law the discussion would also cover the
interplay of exclusion clauses in the adherence of contracts. The versatility of the given case
study is such that some of the elements covered under tort law particularly that of negligence
would also be covered. The main goal of this discussion is to show that a successful case can be
brought against James by the couple, i.e. Anna and Ben. Apart from this, the discussion would
also show the manner in which a case for breach of contract can be undertaken by James against
the couple. However, the same would not hold true for Joey and he would not be successful in
bringing an action against the couple.
Elements of contract law
In order to apply the laws to the case study, it becomes crucial to understand the law.
When the term contract is used in legal terms, it depicts a promise being exchanged, which
covers a specific consideration having an economic value in the eyes of law. This is done to
upload the promise made between the parties, where one party pays the consideration and the
other party undertakes the promised task1.
1 Philip H. Clarke, and Julie Clarke, Contract Law: Commentaries, Cases and Perspectives (Oxford University
Press, 2016)
pg. 1

Business Law Assignment
Offer
The very first step that any party undertakes in order to create a contract is to make an
offer. An offer is very different from an invitation to treat, which takes place before an offer is
made. However, it is not necessary that every case would have an invitation to treat. Hence, offer
is deemed as the first step in contract formation instead of invitation to treat. The difference
between the two is clarified through leading English cases, which are accepted in Australian
jurisdiction as well. Partridge v Crittenden2 helped in establishing that the newspaper
advertisements are invitation to treat and that the party posting the advertisement is not legally
obligated to make the sale upon receiving response from the other party. The offer in such cases
is made when the party reading the newspaper contacts the advertisement making party. This law
has direct relevance to the case study of this discussion. In this case, an advertisement was placed
by Ben on 07th September 2020 regarding his wants in the local newspaper. This would be
deemed as an invitation to treat based on Partridge v Crittenden. And as per the leading
judgement, Ben was free to accept or reject the reply of the other two parties of this case study,
i.e. Joey and James. Further, applying the rules here, the two offers received in case were done
on 12th September 2020 (would be later changed to 16 September 2020 after application of
relevant legislation) by Joey and 09th September 2020 by James.
Acceptance
Once an offer is made, the other party in such transaction is required to accept the offer,
thereby bringing acceptance into play3. Without proper acceptance, a contract is not formed. In
2 Partridge v Crittenden [1968] 1 WLR 1204
3 Ibid 1
pg. 2