Business Law: Contract Analysis of Two Scenarios - University & Couple

This assignment presents an analysis of two distinct scenarios pertaining to contract law. The first scenario involves an elderly couple and Lucinda's mother, Louise, examining the formation of a contract through email communication and the subsequent breach of that contract. The analysis considers elements of offer, acceptance, and communication, referencing relevant case law such as McIver vs. Richardson and Chwee Kin Keong vs. Digilandmall.com Pte Ltd to support the conclusions. The second scenario involves North State University (NSU) and Dr. Brown, where the central issue is the existence and potential breach of an oral contract. The analysis explores the validity of verbal contracts, referencing Kiernan vs. Creech to determine whether a legally binding agreement was in place. The assignment concludes that in both scenarios, valid contracts were formed and subsequently breached, offering a comprehensive understanding of contract law principles and their application in real-world situations. Desklib provides past papers and solved assignments for students.

Running head: BUSINESS
Business
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Authors Note

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Scenario- 1
Issue
In this paper, the issue to be discussed is whether the couple can take any action against
Louise for violating the contract or not.
Rule
Contract is considered to be an agreement, which is formed between two or more
individuals or organizations with an intention to create common responsibility which is
enforceable by law (Anson et al., 2010). Many authors defined contract as a voluntary exchange
of promises which create several responsibilities. In order to be legitimate, a contract must
contain two key elements, such as:
 Every parties need to have the ability to come into an agreement; and
 Something needs to be exchanged for something, such as services or goods replaced for
cash.
In addition, there are four essential elements which need to be present in a legitimate agreement,
such as:
1. Offer;
2. Acceptance;
3. Meeting of minds; and
4. Consideration,
Many authors are of the view that without any of these of four elements a contract becomes
voidable or void contract. Contract law helps to preserve the rights and interests of the

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contractual parties. The common and statutory laws are considered to be the key sources of
contract law. The decisions of several cases are considered to be the common law or judge made
laws and the statutes of both state and federal are considered to be the statutory law. Many
authors considered contract law as the product of common law. However, the principles of
common law are modified, restricted or replaced by the legislation of a specific area (O'Sullivan,
2018). The basic features of a contract are:
 There must exists a common intention between the parties. It includes a negotiation;
 The contractual agreement must be read and understand by the parties;
 Vital terms of the agreement needs to be perfect, explicit and agreed upon.
 The process of negotiation occurs when one party offers something and other party
accepts it.
Therefore, in order to become lawfully binding, a contract needs to include offer and acceptance.
The party who makes a clear and precise offer inclusive of all terms is called the offeror and the
other party to whom the offer is made is called the offeree. Apart from offer and acceptance, it is
also vital to communicate the offer (McIver vs. Richardson [1813] 1 M. & S. 557). In Holwell
Securities Ltd v Hughes [1974] 1 W.L.R. 155, 157 case the court held that it is the
responsibility of the offeror to communicate the offer to the offeree before accepting the offer.
The communication can be made through email, fax, post, internet, and courier or in person
either to a particular individual or to the people at large (Collins, 003). However, in David
Baxter Edward Thomas and Peter Sandford Gander vs. BPE Solicitors [2010] EWHC 306
(Ch) case the court held that the postal rule is not applicable to the communication through email
as such communication is immediate. In Chwee Kin Keong vs. Digilandmall.com Pte Ltd
[2004] 2 SLR 594 case the court held that as emails are processed through servers therefore it is

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not immediate and contract exists only when the acceptance is communicated to the offeror. An
offer is agreed to be accepted by email becomes a lawfully enforceable contract only when the
acceptance has been mailed by the offeree. Therefore, a lawfully enforceable contract can be
made through email acceptance (Restubog et al., 2015).
Analysis
In this given scenario, Lucinda, when returning to her home faced an ice storm and took
shelter at a nearby house of an elderly couple in Michigan. They provided Lucinda food and took
care of her until her car got fixed. After two days, when Lucinda returned to her home, her
mother Louise, out of respect promised to pay a sum of $ 500 to the couple through an email.
The elderly couple accepts the offer by replying through an email as well. However, after an
argument held between Lucinda and her mother she refused to pay the couple. Here, a valid offer
has been made by Lucinda’s mother to the couple which is also communicated by a valid process
by applying the rule of McIver vs. Richardson [1813] 1 M. & S. 557 case. The same offer also
has been accepted by the elderly couple through a return email. Therefore, when the return mail
has been send and delivered through email, the offer becomes a lawfully binding contract by
applying the rule of Chwee Kin Keong vs. Digilandmall.com Pte Ltd [2004] 2 SLR 594. As
Lucinda’s mother Louise refused to pay the money, the contract has been violated by her.
Conclusion
Therefore, the couple can take legal action against Louise for violating the contract of
paying $ 500.

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Reference
Anson, W. R., Beatson, J., Burrows, A. S., & Cartwright, J. (2010). Anson's law of contract.
Oxford University Press.
Collins, H. (2003). The law of contract. Cambridge University Press.
O'Sullivan, J. (2018). O'Sullivan and Hilliard's the Law of Contract. Oxford University Press.
Restubog, S. L. D., Zagenczyk, T. J., Bordia, P., Bordia, S., & Chapman, G. J. (2015). If you
wrong us, shall we not revenge? Moderating roles of self-control and perceived
aggressive work culture in predicting responses to psychological contract breach. Journal
of Management, 41(4), 1132-1154.

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Scenario- 2
Issue
In this paper, the issue to be discussed is whether:
 Any contract has been made between the North State University (NSU) of Michigan and
Dr. Brown or not; and
 The contract has been violated by NSU or not.
Rule
Contract is considered to be an agreement, which is formed between two or more
individuals or organizations with an intention to create common responsibility which is
enforceable by law. A contract has been defined as a voluntary exchange of promises which
create several responsibilities (Posner, 2009). In order to be legitimate, a contract must contain
the below-mentioned requisites, such as:
 Offer;
 Acceptance;
 Meeting of minds; and
 Consideration.
Apart from that, in order to become lawful and enforceable contract promise is also essential. In
case of contracts, several responsibilities are created through promise (Taylor, 2011). There are
four types of contracts usually observed, such as:
1. Formal contract, which is made under a seal and affixed with a paper wafer;
2. Simple or Parol contract which is made without a seal either verbally or in writing;

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3. Express contract, in which the conditions are stated expressly either verbally or in
writing; and
4. Implied contract, which is contingent from the behavior of the parties (Butler et al.,
2013).
In order to become a legally binding contract, it is not mandatory to make the contract in writing.
A verbal contract is also lawfully enforceable unless otherwise mentioned in the agreement.
However, Statute of Frauds is an exception to this rule (Del Duca, 2005). In Kiernan vs. Creech
[2012] case the court held that an oral agreement is also valid and become enforceable under the
law of contract.
Analysis
In this given scenario, as Dr. Brown complained against a student, therefore the
university is not made the contract in writing and terminated him on the ground that no contract
has been made in writing and not signed by the parties. However, the complained has been made
Mr. Brown and after the session was started. According the Contract law, an oral contract is also
valid unless otherwise mentioned by the parties. As nothing is mentioned by the university in this
regard, therefore by applying the decision of Kiernan vs. Creech [2012] case it can be said that
a valid contract can also be made verbally which is enforceable by law.
Conclusion
Therefore, it can be said that, there exist a valid contract between NSU and Dr. Brown
and the contract has been violated by NSU.

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Reference
Butler, D., Christensen, S., Willmott, L., & Dixon, B. (2013). Contract Law Case Book.
Del Duca, L. F. (2005). Implementation of Contract Formation Statute of Frauds, Parol
Evidence, and Battle of Forms CISG Provisions in Civil and Common Law Countries. JL
& Com., 25, 133.
Posner, R. A. (2009). Let us never blame a contract breaker. Michigan Law Review, 1349-1363.
Taylor, J. R. (2011). Restoring the Bargain: Examining Post-Plea Sentence Enhancement as ans
Unconscionable Violation of Contract Law. Cal. WL Rev., 48, 129.