1. Foundation Law 2013/14
Seminar 13
Contract Law (2)
Reading List:
Jacqueline Martin, “GCSE Law”, 5th
edition, Chapter 31-Contract: Consideration and Intention
(pages 247-251 only)
Cases:
• Carlill v Carbolic Smoke Ball Co (1892)
• Dunlop v Selfridge Ltd (1915)
• Chappell & Co v Nestle Co. Ltd (1960)
• White v Bluett (1853)
• Williams v Roffey
• Re McArdle (1951)
• Lampleigh v Braithwaite (1615)
• Rose and Frank Co. v JR Crompton (1923)
• Balfour v Balfour (1919)
• Merritt v Merritt (1970)
• Jones v Padavatton (1969)
Seminar Questions:
1. Rebecca’s dog Dilly (an 8 month old Chihuahua) is missing and she decided to put up posters in
her area offering anyone who finds her dog, a reward of £50.
This morning whilst jogging in Hyde Park, Bill sees the poster and phones Rebecca, as last
night on his way home from work, he found the dog hiding under a bench on the street.
What type of contract is this and can Bill claim the reward of £50?
2. X and Y promised each other to pay Z. Y dies. Can Y’s executors be sued by Z?
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Learning Outcomes:
 Be able to explain what is “consideration” and its importance in contract law;
 Show knowledge and understanding of unilateral and bilateral contracts;
 Explain the doctrine of privity of contract;
 Show awareness of intention to create legal relations;
 Become familiar with contract law terminology;
 Apply legal principles to given facts and demonstrate criticality & analysis when answering fact
based questions; and
 Analyse case law and be able to apply case law in a persuasive manner to hypothetical case studies.

2. Foundation Law 2013/14
Turn Over
3. A and B enter into a contract to paint B’s new house by the end of the week, so that B and his
wife can start to move in over the weekend.
Although by Wednesday the majority of the house had been painted, the three bedrooms still
needed to be painted and the work was unlikely to be completed by Friday. Since B was
expecting delivery of his new furniture and as he had made all the arrangements to move out
from his current house by the weekend, B offered to pay A an additional £200 if he completed
the work on time (by Friday).
A managed to complete the work by Friday, by working overtime but B now refuses to pay him
the additional sum of money. B’s argument is that under the original agreement, the work had to
be completed by Friday anyway.
Advice A on whether he can recover the additional sum of money.
4. Max, who has been living with his parents, has over the years carried out various work to the
house, which recently included the installation of a new boiler.
Max has recently bought his own apartment and wants to know whether he can claim the money
which he has spent on his parents’ house back from them.
Advice Max.
5. Lilly agreed to let her younger brother Simon, who is studying for his law degree at Cambridge
University, live in her house rent free during the course of his three year degree.
She also allowed him to rent out the other 2 bedrooms to his friends and keep the income to
support his living & university costs. However, Lilly now wants to move back into the house
and has asked Simon to leave but Simon argues that the agreement was legally binding and she
cannot evict him before his course finishes next year.
Advice Simon.
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