Contract Law Application 2022

RUNNING HEAD: CONTRACT LAW
Contract Law
Name of the student
Name of the university
Author Note

1
CONTRACT LAW
Reply to question 1:
Issue:
The primary concern regarding the given case study is whether there is a formation of a
lawful contract between Tom and Sally.
The secondary concern regarding the provided case study is whether there is any form of
a legal contract between Paul and Tom.
Rule:
Postal Rule of Acceptance:
Offer and acceptance is the main element in a contractual agreement. It helps in
determining the existence and operation of agreement between the contractual parties. The postal
rule of acceptance was constituted as a rule of acceptance along with offer. According to the rule
of offer along with the acceptance, a proposal or any offer can be withdrawn and cancelled at any
period prior to the offer being accepted. It has been observed that there are different conflicts
between acceptance and revocation of an offer. Sending the offer and acceptance using post or
mail is named as ‘snail mail’ because it takes a lot of time to reach to the receiver. Several
problems emerge due to the formation and revocation of a contract (Carter, Harland and
Lindgren 1996). The offeror does not know when the formation and revocation of a contract take
place. The case study of Adams v Lindsell (1818) 1 B & Ald 68 can be taken into consideration
for supporting the above statements.

2
CONTRACT LAW
Communication through e-mail forms a binding and immediate agreement between the
contractual parties. The essential requirement of acceptance and offer should be present to make
a contract valid. There should be clear evidence to the court that through the exchange of e-mail
and external conversation, both the contractual party has an intent of being guaranteed or bound
and to form an agreement (Cartwright 2016). The case scenario of Stellard Pty Ltd & Anor v
North Queensland Fuel Pty Ltd can be taken into consideration to support the above
statements. In this case, there was a formation of a lawful agreement for a sale of land. The
agreement was formed by the method of an e-mail exchange between the contractual parties. The
intentions in constructing a formal written contract do not invalidate the recent informal
arrangement that is agreed through the communication of e-mail (Priestley 1989).
Application:
From the above scenario, it has been observed that Tom gave an offer to Paul in the
context of selling a boat for $10,000. Paul has sent acceptance to the offer through e-mail within
the mentioned time limit. According to the rule of offer and acceptance, an offer can be
withdrawn and cancelled at any period prior to the offer being accepted. Paul tried to contact
Tom several times using telephone before sending the mail of acceptance, but it was engaged.
Finally, Paul decided to send the letter of acceptance through e-mail as he knows Tom check his
e-mail inbox daily.
The mail of acceptance is found to be delivered to Tom before the provided time limit.
Hence, it became a lawful agreement between Paul and Tom as soon as the mail was delivered to
Tom. The case study of Adams v Lindsell (1818) 1 B & Ald 68 can be applied in this particular
scenario. After receiving the mail of acceptance from Paul, it has been observed that Tom sold