American Business Law IIIWord文档格式.docx

American Business Law IIIWord文档格式.docx

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Acontractmadeorallyorbyactionsofthepartiesisusuallyjustasbindingasonemadeinwriting.Thisistrueofsimplecontractssuchaspurchasinganewspaper,makingaphonecall,gettingahaircut,andmanyotheragreements.Evenimportantcontractsinvolvinglargesumsofmoneyaremadeoverthephone.

Thereareseveralreasons,however,whyimportantcontractsshouldbemadeinwriting.Ifthetermsofacontractarestatedinwrittenform,eachpartyknowsexactlywhatthosetermsare.Also,thechancesofafuturedisputeoveranagreementarelessenedifthecontractisinwriting.Ifadisputedoesoccur,itismucheasierforeitherpartytoprovethetermsofawrittencontractthanthoseofanoralone.Ofcourse,ifthepartieshavenodisagreementandaresatisfiedwithanoralcontract,thelawwillnotinterfere.

[Case1]HahnorallyagreedtoworkforPhathforsixteenmonthsatasalaryof$1800permonth.Attheendofsixmonths,HahnwasfiredbecausePhathwasn’tpleasedwithhiswork.HahnclaimsthatPhathhadnolegalrighttofirehim.Phathclaimsthatthecontractisnotbindingbecauseitwasn’tinwriting.Whoisright?

Infact,statutelawinnearlyallstatessaysthatacontractthatcannotbecompletedwithinoneyearfromthetimeitismademustbemadeinwritingtobeenforceable.

Inadditiontoanemploymentcontractformorethanayear,thereareotherimportantcontractsthatmustbemadeinwritingtobelegallyenforceable.

2.Statuteoffrauds

Over250yearsago,theEnglishParliamentrecognizedthatcertaincontractsshouldbeputinwriting.Inlawsuitsinvolvingthosecontracts,thecourtsfoundthattheyhadtoputupwithalotofperjury（falsetestimony）andintentionalmisrepresentationoffacts（fraud）.Toremedythisproblem,ParliamentpassedthefamousStatuteofFrauds.SinceEnglishlawisthebasisofAmericanlaw,nearlyeverystatehasadoptedtheStatuteofFrauds,withsomechanges.

TheStatuteofFraudsappliesonlytocontractsthathavenotbeenfullyperformedbytheparties（executorycontracts）.Thestatuterequiresthatfollowingtypesofcontractstobewritteninordertobeenforceable:

（1）acontractthat,byitsterms,cannotbeperformedwithinoneyearfromthedateitismade;

（2）acontractforthesaleofrealpropertyoranyinterestinrealproperty,orfortheleaseofrealpropertyformorethanayear.

（3）acontracttoanswerforthedebtordefaultofanother;

（4）acontractinconsiderationofmarriage;

and

（5）acontractmadebyanestate’sexecutororadministratortopayanestatedebtoutofhisorherwonfunds.

TheStatuteofFraudsalsoappliestocontractsforthesaleofgoodsworthmorethan$500.

Contractsimpossibletoperformwithinayear

[Case2]OnJanuary2,KentorallyagreedtobuildacabinforMichaelofor$47000.TheworkwastobecompletedbyMay1ofthefollowingyear.Isthecontractenforceable?

CourtsjudgetheenforceabilityofcontractsundertheStatuteofFraudsnotbyactualperformancewithinayear,butbythepossibilityofperformancewithinayear.

Contractsdealingwithrealproperty

[Case3]OdianorallyagreedtosellherlandtoGianinofor$50000.IfOdianlaterrefusedtoperformherpartofthecontract,whatrightsdoesGianinohave?

TheStatuteofFraudsalsoprovidesthatcontractsforthesaleofrealty（landandanythingpermanentlyattachedtoland）mustbeinwriting.Thingspermanentlyattachedtolandincludebuildings,growingtrees,andminerals.Deeds,mortgages,andleasesformorethanayearareregardedasinterestsinrealproperty.

Contractstoanswerfordebtsordefaultsofothers

[Case4]Hittel’sClothingStoresoldasuittoMarkhamfor$325.Gohanorallyagreedtopayforhisfriend’ssuitifMarkhamfailedtopay.IsGohan’soralpromiseenforceableifMarkhamfailstopayforthesuit?

TheStatuteofFraudsprovidesthatthepromiseofonepersontoanswerforthedebtordefault（failuretoperform）ofanothermustbeinwritingtobeenforceable.However,apartywhoorallypromisestopayforgoodsdeliveredtoanotherlegallyassumesthedebt.Anoralpromisesuchasthisisenforceableagainstthepersonwhomadethepromise.

[Case]AssumethatGohanhadsaid,“LetMarkhamhavethesuitandsendthebilltome.”Inthiscase,Gohanlegallyassumedthe$325debtforthesuitandmaybeheldliableforpaymentforthesuit.ThedebtwasnotMarkham’s,butwasGohan’sowndebt.

Contractsinconsiderationofmarriage

[Case5]HousemansaidtoDonaldson,“Ifyou’llmarryme,I’llbuyyouabrandnewFerrari.”Aftertheirmarriage,Housemanrefusedtobuythecar.Isthisoralpromiseenforceable?

Apromisetopaymoneyortotransferpropertytoanotherinconsiderationofmarriageisnotbindingunlessitiswritten.ThisprovisionoftheStatuteofFraudsdoesnotapply,however,tomutualpromisestomarry.Inthatcase,eachpromiseservesastheconsiderationfortheother.

Contractsofestateexecutorsoradministrators

Anestateexecutor’soradministrator’spromisetopayadebtofthedecedent（thepersonwhodied）outofhisorherownfundsmustbemadeinwritingundertheStatuteofFrauds.Thisrequirementactuallygivestheexecutororadministratormoretimetodecidewhethertopaysomeoneelse’sdebt.

[Case]Simmons,theexecutorofDavid’sestate,orallypromisedtopayDavid’sfuneralexpensesoutofherownfunds.Simmons’soralpromiseisunenforceable.Ifshehadpromisedtopaythefuneralexpensesusingestatefunds,though,thepromisewouldhavebeenenforceableandtheStatuteofFraudswouldnothaveapplied.

3.Contentofthewrittendocument

TocomplywiththeStatuteofFrauds,itisnecessarytofurnishwrittenproofofthecontracts.Thisproofmaytaketheformofawrittenagreement,note,ormemorandumsignedbythepartyagainstwhomthecontractistobeenforced.

Thememorandumneednotbeinanyparticularform,butitmustcontaineveryessentialprovisionoftheagreement.Itmayconsistofaseriesoflettersortelegramsthat,whenputtogether,showatleasttheseitems:

namesofthecontractingparties;

theconsideration;

thesubjectmatterinvolved;

andthesignatureofthepartyassumingtheobligationofhisorherauthorizedagent.

Whenacontractismadeinwriting,futuredifficultiesaboutitstermsareavoided.If,forexample,oneofthepartiesdies,thecontract’stermsmaystillbedeterminedfromthewrittendocument.

4.Parolevidencerule

[Case6]ValdezobtainedafranchisefromExcelsiorMotorstoengageinbusinessasanautodealerinRockland,Ohio.AwrittencontractidentifiedaspecificlocationinRocklandforthedealer-ship.Later,Valdezclaimedthatduringthenegotiationsforthefranchise,Excelsiorhadorallyagreedtomovethedealershiptoabetterlocationinthecity.WasExcelsiorliablefordamagesforhavingfailedtokeepthispromise?

Oncethepartieshavereachedanoralagreementandthenreduceittowriting,theyareboundbythetermsofthewrittenagreement.Thelawassumesthatwhenpartiesputanagreementinwriting,alltheirpriororalagreementsmergeintothewrittenform.Unwrittenevidencethattendstocontradictthewrittentermsisnotpermittedduringalawsuit.Thisisknownastheparol（oral）evidencerule.

However,theparolevidenceruledoesnotpreventproofofaneworalorwrittencontractthatchangesthetermsoftheearliercontract.Also,thereareseveralexceptionstotheparolevidencerulethatallowcertainoralevidenceinalawsuitseekingtoenforceawrittencontract.First,oralproofisallowedtoshowthatacontractisinvalidbecauseoffraud,lackofconsideration,orsomeotherdefect.Second,oralproofmaybeincludedtoclearupambiguous（uncertain）orobscureterms.Ifacontractcontainswordsthatmightmeanoneofseveralthings,thereisnowaytoprovewhatthepartiesintendedexceptbyoralevidence.Third,oralproofofsubsequentmodificationsofacontractmaybepresented.Clearproofofthelateragreement---whichmaybeinoralorwrittenform---isallowedifconsiderationispresent.ThislastexceptiondoesnotapplytothesaleofgoodsundertheUniformCommercialCode.

Chapter10AssignmentofContracts

1.Transferofrightsandobligations

Whenpartiesenterintoabindingcontract,theyusuallyacquirerightsandassumeobligations.

[Case7]DiepagreedtobuyfromKoch100gallonsoffueloilat75centsagallon.Paymentwastobemadeincashondelivery.DiepassignedthecontracttoCornell.MustKochdeliverthefueloiltoCornell?

Thelawpermitsbothpartiestotransferortoselltheirrightsunderacontracttoathirdparty.Itisimportanttoknowthatrightsrelatingtomoneyortopropertymaybetransferred.Suchatransferisknownlegallyasanassignment.Thepartywhoassignsrightsunderacontractisknownastheassignor.Thethirdpartytowhomrightsareassignedisknownastheassignee.Generally,anyactsorwords,whetherspokenorwritten,thatshowanintentiontoassignwillberegardedasanassignment.

Althoughthepartiestoacontractmayassigntheirrights,itisinaccuratetosaythattheyalsomayassigntheirobligationswithouttheconsentoftheotherparty.Obligationsordutiesunderacontractareusuallytransferredonlybydelegation.Delegationisentrustingadutytoanotherforperformance.Whendutiesaredelegated,theoriginalparty（assignor）remainsliableifthedutiesarenotproperlyperformedbythethirdparty.ThisbasicprincipleisexpressedintheUniformCommercialCode.Incontractsforthesaleofgoods,theCodestatesthatanassignmento