The Concentrate Questions and Answers series offers the best preparation for tackling exam questions. Each book includes typical questions, answer plans and suggested answers, author commentary, and other features. The standard common law remedy of damages will not always prove adequate for the victim of a breach of contract. Equity therefore developed a number of additional remedies, discretionary in nature, aimed at ensuring that a claimant was not unreasonably confined to an award of damages; in particular, specific performance and injunctions. The possibility of awarding restitutionary damages, in part to offset any unjust enrichment secured by a contract-breaker, is also considered.
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Chapter
Each Concentrate revision guide is packed with essential information, key cases, revision tips, exam Q&As, and more. Concentrates show you what to expect in a law exam, what examiners are looking for, and how to achieve extra marks. This chapter discusses the components of agreement; an essential ingredient of a contract. Traditionally, an agreement is comprised of an offer and a corresponding acceptance. There are two types of agreement: bilateral and unilateral. Bilateral agreements are by far the most common in practice and consist of a promise in exchange for a promise. Unilateral agreements consist of a promise in exchange for an act. This chapter analyses the agreement process in terms of offer, acceptance, and revocation of offers in bilateral and unilateral scenarios in order to provide structures and scenarios for future use. It also explains the two-contract analysis which is used to impose pre-contractual liability in English law.
Chapter
Each Concentrate revision guide is packed with essential information, key cases, revision tips, exam Q&As, and more. Concentrates show you what to expect in a law exam, what examiners are looking for, and how to achieve extra marks. This chapter focuses on issues which may prevent the parties from reaching agreement. Agreement problems generally affect the agreement by rendering it void. It is necessary, however, to distinguish a void contract from one which is merely voidable. If an apparent agreement is too uncertain in its terms (e.g. because it is vague or essential terms are missing), the courts will not enforce it because they will not construct a binding contract for the parties. An apparent agreement may be void where the parties entered into the agreement under a ‘fundamental’ mistake which the law recognizes as preventing the parties from ever reaching agreement.
Book
James Devenney
The Concentrate Questions and Answers series offers the best preparation for tackling exam questions. Each book includes typical questions, answer plans and suggested answers, author commentary, and other features. Concentrate Q&A Contract Law provides guidance on answering questions on the law of contract. The book starts with an introduction explaining how to use the book and exploring the skills necessary for success in contract law exams. The book then looks at offer and acceptance, certainty of terms, consideration and intention to create legal relations. After that it examines terms of the contract, exclusion/exemption clauses and unfair terms, misrepresentation, improper pressure, mistake and issues relating to illegality and restraint of trade. The final part of the book looks at frustration, damages, additional remedies, privity of contract and has a short section dealing with mixed questions. The book ends with a chapter containing advice on answering coursework questions.
Chapter
The Concentrate Questions and Answers series offers the best preparation for tackling exam questions. Each book includes typical questions, answer plans, suggested answers, and other features. This chapter explains the doctrine of consideration and other elements necessary for the enforceability of an agreement, such as an intention to create legal relations. The doctrine of consideration is shaped by three important rules: traditionally consideration must move from the promisee (a party must provide consideration if he is to sue on a promise); consideration must be sufficient but need not be adequate (both parties need only contribute something of value in the eyes of the law to the bargain, however disproportionate); and performance of an existing contract does not normally constitute sufficient consideration for any modification in the terms of that contract. The chapter also looks at the equitable doctrine of promissory estoppel.
Book
Jill Poole, James Devenney, and Adam Shaw-Mellors
Each Concentrate revision guide is packed with essential information, key cases, revision tips, exam Q&As, and more. Concentrates show you what to expect in a law exam, what examiners are looking for, and how to achieve extra marks. Contract Law Concentrate contains a wealth of information on the field of contract law to aid with revision and understanding the elements of the contract law syllabus. It looks specifically at the components of agreement, enforceability criteria comprising intention to create legal relations, consideration, and the doctrine of promissory estoppel. It also focuses on some problems associated with reaching agreement, such as whether the terms are sufficiently certain, and mistakes which prevent agreement. The doctrine of privity determines who has the ability to enforce the contract and whether a third party can take the intended benefit of a contract. Contract Law Concentrate focuses on the terms (or promises) of the contract and breach of contract when those promises are broken. It also examines exemption clauses and unfair contract terms. Next it looks at remedies for the breach of contract. It then turns to contractual impossibility and risk where the default rules of common mistake (initial impossibility) and frustration (subsequent impossibility) will determine the parties’ positions in the absence of party allocation. Finally, it outlines contractual remedies for actionable misrepresentations and looks briefly at the common law doctrine of duress and the equitable doctrine of undue influence.
Chapter
Each Concentrate revision guide is packed with essential information, key cases, revision tips, exam Q&As, and more. Concentrates show you what to expect in a law exam, what examiners are looking for, and how to achieve extra marks. This chapter examines the law’s response to events that render performance of the contract impossible for reasons beyond the control of the contracting parties, and so provide an excuse for non-performance. The default legal doctrines—common mistake (initial impossibility) and frustration (subsequent impossibility)—may come into play in instances of impossibility of performance only where there is no express or implied allocation of the risk of the event in the contract. These default doctrines determine what is to happen to the existing and future obligations of the parties.
Chapter
The Concentrate Questions and Answers series offers the best preparation for tackling exam questions. Each book includes typical questions, answer plans and suggested answers, author commentary, and other features. The common law places great emphasis on damages as the primary remedy for breach of contract, reinforced by the fact that although a victim of a breach may seek specific performance or an injunction, such orders are equitable in nature and therefore discretionary. In claiming damages, the victim of a breach will need to establish that: the claimed method for assessing damages is appropriate (measure); the damages are not too remote (remoteness); if relevant, compensation for inconvenience and/or disappointment caused by the breach is recoverable (non-pecuniary losses); the losses could not have been reasonably mitigated (mitigation); and the recoverable losses have been properly quantified (quantification). Separately, the validity of any agreed damages clause will need to be determined.
Chapter
Each Concentrate revision guide is packed with essential information, key cases, revision tips, exam Q&As, and more. Concentrates show you what to expect in a law exam, what examiners are looking for, and how to achieve extra marks. The doctrines of duress and undue influence may result in a contract being set aside (the remedy of rescission) where illegitimate pressure has been used in the contracting process. This chapter focuses on instances where the agreement cannot stand in light of duress or undue influence, including instances where the duress or undue influence was exercised by a third party and the contracting party had notice of that duress or undue influence.
Chapter
3. Enforceability issues
Intention to be bound, consideration, and promissory estoppel
Each Concentrate revision guide is packed with essential information, key cases, revision tips, exam Q&As, and more. Concentrates show you what to expect in a law exam, what examiners are looking for, and how to achieve extra marks. This chapter examines the question of whether the promises contained in the agreement are enforceable so that there is a legally binding contract in place (formation). It considers the parties’ intention to be legally bound and the need to establish that the promises are part of a bargain. The same bargain requirement applies to alteration promises, although the treatment of alteration promises is not as strict. It is possible for freely made alteration promises to be enforceable when not ‘paid for’ with another promise or action, e.g. by means of the doctrine of promissory estoppel.
Chapter
The Concentrate Questions and Answers series offers the best preparation for tackling exam questions. Each book includes typical questions, answer plans and suggested answers, author commentary, and other features. Concentrate Q&A Contract Law provides guidance on answering questions on the law of contract. This chapter focuses on the exam skills you will need to develop in order to be successful in Contract Law. It outlines how the book may be used to aid you in writing answers to contract essay and problem questions. It also provides general guidance for questions which are broken into parts and how marks are allocated, the focus of exam questions, and expectations in relation to written work.
Chapter
Each Concentrate revision guide is packed with essential information, key cases, revision tips, exam Q&As, and more. Concentrates show you what to expect in a law exam, what examiners are looking for, and how to achieve extra marks. This chapter discusses the use and enforceability of exemption clauses (total exclusion or limitation of liability clauses inserted into contracts) and their legislative regulation. Whereas the regulation of such clauses is limited to the common law and UCTA 1977 in the case of commercial contracts (B2B), in the case of consumer contracts (B2C) the law intervenes to control a broader category of terms, ‘unfair contract terms’ (Consumer Rights Act 2015) with the critical test being ‘unfairness’.
Chapter
The Concentrate Questions and Answers series offers the best preparation for tackling exam questions. Each book includes typical questions, answer plans and suggested answers, author commentary, and other features. This chapter focuses on the regulation of exclusion/exemption clauses and other potentially unfair terms. It discusses both common law (such as approaches to incorporation and interpretation) and statutory regulation (such as the Unfair Contract Terms Act 1977 and the Consumer Rights Act 2015). It also explores two key debates: the nature of an exemption clause, and the tension between freedom of contract and judicial and statutory intervention in the context of exemption clauses.
Chapter
The Concentrate Questions and Answers series offers the best preparation for tackling exam questions. Each book includes typical questions, answer plans and suggested answers, author commentary, and other features. This chapter discusses the doctrine of frustration. It outlines three key questions that need to be posed in addressing issues of possible frustration. Is there a radical change in circumstances? Does any rule of law render frustration inoperative? What are the effects of frustration? It explores two key debates: the fact that a self-induced event will not frustrate a contract, and the consequences of frustration under the Law Reform (Frustrated Contracts) Act 1943.
Chapter
The Concentrate Questions and Answers series offers the best preparation for tackling exam questions. Each book includes typical questions, answer plans and suggested answers, author commentary, and other features. This chapter looks at illegality and restraint of trade.
Illegality is one of the most confusing areas within the law of contract, particularly as regards the consequences of a finding of illegality. This chapter considers recent developments in this general area of law as well as contracts in restraint of trade. It explores two key debates: the extent to which when faced with illegality the courts should grant relief to ensure justice, and ‘although many contracts will, to some extent, restrain future activity, the circumstances when a contract will be subject to the restraint of trade doctrine’.
Chapter
The Concentrate Questions and Answers series offers the best preparation for tackling exam questions. Each book includes typical questions, answer plans and suggested answers, author commentary, and other features. This chapter focuses on the doctrines of undue influence and duress. Between the parties to a con-tract there are broadly two ways that a contract can be avoided for undue influence: through affirmative proof of undue influence or through raising the presumption of undue influence which is not rebutted. As regards duress, there are two main forms: physical and economic. The more common type is economic duress, which focuses on the illegitimate pressure exerted by the dominant party.
Chapter
Each Concentrate revision guide is packed with essential information, key cases, revision tips, exam Q&As, and more. Concentrates show you what to expect in a law exam, what examiners are looking for, and how to achieve extra marks. This chapter discusses the identification of actionable misrepresentations which affect the fairness of the process by which a contract was entered into, and render that contract voidable for misrepresentation (liable to be set aside and the parties restored to their pre-contractual positions). It identifies three types of misrepresentation depending on the state of mind of the misrepresentor: fraudulent, negligent, or innocent. It distinguishes between remedies available for the different types of pre-contractual statements, specifically rescission and damages for the different types of misrepresentations, and briefly explains the distinction between commercial contracts and the remedies available to consumers under the Consumer Protection from Unfair Trading Regulations 2008.
Chapter
The Concentrate Questions and Answers series offers the best preparation for tackling exam questions. Each book includes typical questions, answer plans and suggested answers, author commentary, and other features. Misrepresentation is defined as a false statement of fact, made pre-contractually, which is intended to induce the representee to enter into a contract and which has that effect. If an actionable misrepresentation is found to exist a court will then need to consider the available remedies. This chapter considers the following issues relevant to answering any problem question on misrepresentation. Has there been a false statement of fact? Is there evidence of inducement? What type of misrepresentation has potentially been made? What remedies are potentially available? Has liability for misrepresentation been effectively excluded? Has there been a breach of contract?
Chapter
The Concentrate Questions and Answers series offers the best preparation for tackling exam questions. Each book includes typical questions, answer plans and suggested answers, author commentary, and other features. This chapter discusses the three broad classifications of mistake: common, mutual and unilateral. In common mistake (sometimes confusingly referred to as mutual mistake) both parties share the same mistake about a fundamental fact of the contract. With mutual mistake the parties are at cross-purposes but neither realizes it. In unilateral mistake only one of the parties is mistaken and the other party either knows of the mistake or possibly is deemed to know.
Chapter
The Concentrate Questions and Answers series offers the best preparation for tackling exam questions. Each book includes typical questions, answer plans and suggested answers, author commentary, and other features. This chapter introduces students to examination questions which contain overlapping topics. Clearly, if students identify all the relevant areas then they will have established a firm base from which a good answer can be developed. The chapter aims to illustrate how different topics may be contained within one question; the suggested answers offer an explanation of how such questions may be approached in a written answer.
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