1. Agreement

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.

3. Enforceability issues

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. Promises obtained by threats or extortion may be voidable for duress.

10. Undue influence

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 doctrine of undue influence is an equitable doctrine allowing a contract to be set aside (the remedy of rescission) at the court’s discretion where there has been a wrongful (undue) exercise of influence by one party over the other. This chapter focuses on instances where the agreement cannot stand in light of undue influence, including instances where the undue influence was exercised by a third party and the contracting party had notice of that undue influence.

9. Misrepresentation

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 CPRs 2008.

6. Exemption clauses and unfair contract terms

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’.

4. Privity and third party rights

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 doctrine of privity and third party rights. The doctrine of privity of contract provides that a person who is not a party to a contract (called a ‘third party’), cannot acquire rights under or enforce the provisions of that contract or rely on its protections even if the provisions were intended to benefit that third party. At common law there are complex, and sometimes artificial, ways to avoid this conclusion. More significant nowadays is the attempt to reform this principle by legislation in the Contracts (Rights of Third Parties) Act 1999, allowing some third party beneficiaries to enforce the provisions of contracts.

5. Terms and breach of contract

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 how to identify the contractual obligations assumed by the parties in their contract, distinguishing terms (promises) and representations (non-promissory inducements to contract), and identifying the express and implied terms. It also looks at standards of performance, how to identify broken promises as a prelude to considering the remedies for breach of contract, and whether it is possible to opt not to continue to perform further contractual obligations following the other party’s breach.

2. Agreement problems

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.

8. Contractual impossibility and risk: frustration and common mistake

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.

7. Remedies for breach of contract

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 damages, the aim of which is generally to protect the claimant’s contractual expectation and put the claimant into the position they would have been in had the contract been properly performed. The lost expectation may be measured in terms of the difference between what the claimant expected to get and what was actually received. There are limitations on the claimant’s ability to be fully compensated for losses as a result of breach, i.e. remoteness, mitigation, contributory negligence, and the ability to recover for non-pecuniary losses in contract. This chapter also examines agreed damages clauses and the operation of the penalty rule.