This document defines a contract and outlines key concepts in contract law including offer and acceptance, consideration, duties and enforcement, and defenses. It explains that a contract is a legally binding promise, and covers topics such as what constitutes a valid offer, how acceptance forms a contract, the need for consideration on both sides, the concept of substantial performance of duties, remedies for breach such as damages and specific performance, and defenses that can make a contract void like unconscionability, fraud, duress, and illegality.

2. • A contract is a promise or a set of promises for the breach of
which the law gives a remedy, or the performance of which
the law in some way recognizes as a duty.
• We will focus on 4 topics:
 Offer and acceptance
 Consideration
 Duties and enforcement
 Defenses

3.  Offer: Showing a willingness to enter into a
bargain in such a way that another person
would interpret that they could accept and it
would conclude the negotiations.
 Can be through words or actions.
Advertisements can be offers.
 Negotiations are not offers. Buyers have to
be able to walk away from estimates or price
quotes.

4.  Acceptance- once an offer has been made,
the other party can accept the offer in any
reasonable way, including starting
performance.
 The party who accepts can back out up until
performance begins.
 Factors include:
 Were terms finalized? Did performance begin?

5.  Consideration: A contract must include a
promise and a return promise.
 It cannot only go in one direction. Both
parties have to get something valuable (a
good or service).
 A promise of a gift is not enforceable because
one party gets nothing.
 The exchange doesn’t have to be equal- one
person may value something more than
someone else.

6.  Substantial Performance- Doing exactly what
is in the contract is not always possible, but
the parties have to reasonably live up to the
terms.
 If one party does not materially perform, the
other party no longer has to perform.
 Failure to perform is called “breach.”

7.  What happens when one party breaches?
 Damages- The party who is harmed can
request money from the other party equal to
the loss from the breach.
 Specific performance- If it is still possible to
perform the contract, the court can require
the party to perform.

8.  Read Scenario 1 on the worksheet, then post
your new negotiated contract in the Contract
Blog.

9.  Certain things can make contracts void even though
both parties agreed on the terms and there was
valuable consideration.
 Unconscionability- If one party tricked
another party into agreeing to an unfair
contract, the court may not enforce it.
 Often comes up when businesses try to trick poor
or uneducated clients.

10.  Fraud or Duress- Lying or misrepresenting
something in negotiations can make a
contract void.
 Also, taking advantage of someone in a bad
situation can make a contract void.
 If a company knows about a flaw in a product and
covers it up, the contract to buy it is void.

11.  Legality - If the terms of a contract require
illegal behavior, or if they go against
Congress’ stated goals, it will be declared
void.

12.  Read Scenario 2 of the worksheet, and post
your response in the Contract Blog

13.  See the instructions on the Safe Driver
Contract