合同法大纲美国法学院.docx

合同法大纲美国法学院.docx

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合同法大纲美国法学院

EmanuelLawOutlines

Contracts

Chapter1

INTRODUCTION

I.MEANINGOF"CONTRACT"

A.Definition:

A"contract"isanagreementthatthelawwillenforce.

1.Writtenv.oralcontracts:

Althoughtheword"contract"oftenreferstoawrittendocument,awritingisnotalwaysnecessarytocreateacontract.Anagreementmaybebindingonbothpartieseventhoughitisoral.Somecontracts,however,mustbeinwritingundertheStatuteofFrauds.

II.SOURCESOFCONTRACTLAW

A.TheUCC:

Contractlawisessentiallycommonlaw,i.e.judge-made,notstatutory.However,ineverystatebutLouisiana,salesofgoodsaregovernedbyastatute,Article2oftheUniformCommercialCode.

1.Stateenactments:

Anationaldraftingbody,theNationalConferenceofCommissionersofUniformStateLaws（NCCUSL）proposesrevisionstovariousUCCArticlesfromtimetotime.Eachstatelegislaturethenmakesitsowndecisionaboutwhetherandwhentoadopttheproposedrevision.

a.2003Revision:

ThemostrecentNCCUSLrevisionofArticle2isthe2003Revision,whichmadesomesignificantchanges,especiallyintheareaofelectroniccommerce.However,nostatehasyetadoptedthisrevision,anditdoesnotlookasthoughthatrevisionwillbeadoptedanywhereinthenextfewyears.

b.Ourtext:

Therefore,whenthisCapsule（orthisbook）referstoanArticle2provision,nearlyalways（andunlessotherwisespecificallynoted）thereferenceistothepre-2003versionofArticle,whichhasremainedessentiallyunchangedsinceitsoriginalpromulgationin1957.

2.Common-law:

IftheUCCissilentonaparticularquestion,thecommonlawofthestatewillcontrol.SeeUCC§1-103.

Chapter2

OFFERANDACCEPTANCE

I.INTENTTOCONTRACT

A.Objectivetheoryofcontracts:

Contractlawfollowstheobjectivetheoryofcontracts.Thatis,aparty’sintentisdeemedtobewhatareasonablepersoninthepositionoftheotherpartywouldthinkthatthefirstparty’sobjectivemanifestationofintentmeant.Forinstance,indecidingwhetherAintendedtomakeanoffertoB,theissueiswhetherA’sconductreasonablyindicatedtooneinB’spositionthatAwasmakinganoffer.

Example:

AsaystoB,"I’llsellyoumyhousefor$1,000."IfoneinB’spositionwouldreasonablyhavebelievedthatAwasserious,Awillbeheldtohavemadeanenforceableoffer,evenifsubjectivelyAwasonlyjoking.

B.Legalenforceability:

Theparties’intentionregardingwhetheracontractistobelegallyenforceablewillnormallybeeffective.Thusifbothpartiesintendanddesirethattheir"agreement"notbelegallyenforceable,itwillnotbe.Conversely,ifbothdesirethatitbelegallyenforceable,itwillbeevenifthepartiesmistakenlybelievethatitisnot.

Example:

Bothpartieswouldliketobeboundbytheiroralunderstanding,butmistakenlybelievethatanoralcontractcannotbeenforceable.Thisarrangementwillbeenforceable,assumingthatitdoesnotfallwithintheStatuteofFrauds.

1.Presumptions:

Wheretheevidenceisambiguousaboutwhetherthepartiesintendedtobebound,thecourtwillfollowtheserules:

（1）Ina"business"context,thecourtwillpresumethatthepartiesintendedtheiragreementtobelegallyenforceable;

（2）butinasocialordomesticsituation,thepresumptionwillbethatlegalrelationswerenotintended.

Example:

HusbandpromisestopayamonthlyallowancetoWife,withwhomheislivingamicably.Intheabsenceofevidenceotherwise,thisagreementwillbepresumednottobeintendedaslegallybinding,sinceitarisesinadomesticsituation.

C.Intenttoputinwritinglater:

Iftwopartiesagree（eitherorallyorinabriefwriting）onallpoints,butdecidethattheywillsubsequentlyputtheirentireagreementintoamoreformalwrittendocumentlater,thepreliminaryagreementmayormaynotbebinding.Ingeneral,theparties’intentioncontrols.（Example:

Ifthepartiesintendtobeboundrightawaybasedontheiroralagreement,theywillbeboundeventhoughtheyexpresslyprovideforalaterformalwrittendocument.）

1.Wherenointentmanifested:

Wheretheevidenceofintentisambiguous,thecourtwillgenerallytreatacontractasexistingassoonasthemutualassentisreached,evenifnoformaldocumentiseverdrawnuplater.Butforverylargedeals（e.g.,billiondollaracquisitions）,thecourtwillprobablyfindnointenttobebounduntiltheformaldocumentissigned.

II.OFFERANDACCEPTANCEGENERALLY

A.Definitions:

1."Offer"defined:

Anofferis"themanifestationofwillingnesstoenterintoabargain,"whichjustifiesanotherpersoninunderstandingthathisassentcanconcludethebargain.Inotherwords,anofferissomethingthatcreatesapowerofacceptance.

2."Acceptance"defined:

Anacceptanceofanofferis"amanifestationofassenttothetermsthereofmadebytheoffereeinamannerinvitedorrequiredbytheoffer."

Example:

AsaystoB,"I’llsellyoumyhousefor$100,000,ifyougivemeacheckrightnowfor$10,000andpromisetopaytherestwithin30days."Thisisanoffer.IfBsays,"Hereismy$10,000check,andI’llhavethebalancetoyounextweek,"thisisanacceptance.Aftertheacceptanceoccurs,thepartieshaveanenforceablecontract（assumingthatthereisnorequirementofawriting,asthereprobablywouldbeinthissituation）.

B.Unilateralvs.bilateralcontracts:

Anoffermayproposeeitherabilateraloraunilateralcontract.

1.Bilateralcontract:

Abilateralcontractisacontractinwhichbothsidesmakepromises.（Example:

AsaystoB,"Ipromisetopayyou$1,000onApril15ifyoupromisenowthatyouwillwalkacrosstheBrooklynBridgeonApril1."Thisisanofferforabilateralcontract,sinceAisproposingtoexchangehispromiseforB’spromise.）

2.Unilateralcontract:

Aunilateralcontractisonewhichinvolvesanexchangeoftheofferor’spromisefortheofferee’sact.Thatis,inaunilateralcontracttheoffereedoesnotmakeapromise,butinsteadsimplyacts.

Example:

AsaystoB,"IfyouwalkacrosstheBrooklynBridge,Ipromisetopayyou$1,000assoonasyoufinish."AhasproposedtoexchangehispromiseforB’sactofwalkingacrossthebridge.Therefore,Ahasproposedaunilateralcontract.

III.VALIDITYOFPARTICULARKINDSOFOFFERS

A.Offermadeinjest:

Anofferwhichtheoffereeknowsorshouldknowismadeinjestisnotavalidoffer.Thusevenifitis"accepted,"nocontractiscreated.

B.Preliminarynegotiations:

Ifapartywhodesirestocontractsolicitsbids,thissolicitationisnotanoffer,andcannotbeaccepted.Instead,itmerelyservesasabasisforpreliminarynegotiations.

Example:

Asays,"Iwouldliketosellmyhouseforatleast$100,000."Thisisalmostcertainlyasolicitationofbids,ratherthananoffer,soBcannot"accept"bysaying,"Here’smycheckfor$100,000."

C.Advertisements:

Mostadvertisementsappearinginnewspapers,storewindows,etc.,arenotofferstosell.Thisisbecausetheydonotcontainsufficientwordsofcommitmenttosell.（Example:

Acircularstating,"Men’sjackets,$26each,"wouldnotbeanoffertoselljacketsatthatprice,becauseitistoovagueregardingquantity,duration,etc.）

1.Specificterms:

Butiftheadvertisementcontainsspecificwordsofcommitment,especiallyapromisetosellaparticularnumberofunits,thenitmaybeanoffer.（Example:

"100men’sjacketsat$26apiece,firstcomefirstservedstartingSaturday,"issospecificthatitprobablyisanoffer.）

2.Wordsofcommitment:

Lookforwordsofcommitment–thesesuggestanoffer.（Example:

"Sendthreeboxtopsplus$1.95foryourfreecottonT-shirt,"isanoffereventhoughitisalsoanadvertisement;thisisbecausetheadvertiseriscommittinghimselftotakecertainactioninresponsetotheconsumer’saction.）

D.Auctions:

Whenanitemisputupforauction,thisisusuallynotanoffer,butisratherasolicitationofoffers（bids）fromtheaudience.Sounlessthesaleisexpresslysaidtobe"withoutreserve,"theauctioneermaywithdrawthegoodsfromthesaleevenafterthestartofbidding.SeeUCC§2-328（3）.

IV.THEACCEPTANCE

A.Whomayaccept:

Anoffermaybeacceptedonlybyapersoninwhomtheofferorintendedtocreateapowerofacceptance.

Example:

OsaystoA,"Ioffertosellyoumyhousefor$100,000."Boverhears,andsays,"Iaccept."AssumingthatO’sofferwasreasonablyviewedasbeinglimitedtoA,BcannotaccepteventhoughtheconsiderationheiswillingtogiveiswhatOsaidhewanted.

B.Offereemustknowofoffer:

Anacceptanceisusuallyvalidonlyiftheoffereeknowsoftheofferatthetimeofhisallegedacceptance.

1.Rewards:

Thusifarewardisofferedforaparticularact,apersonwhodoestheactwithoutknowingabouttherewardcannotclaimit.

C.Methodofacceptance:

Theofferoristhe"masterofhisoffer."Thatis,theofferormayprescribethemethodbywhichtheoffermaybeaccepted（e.g.,bytelegram,byletter,bymailingacheck,etc.）.

1.Wheremethodnotspecified:

Iftheofferdoesnotspecifythemodeofacceptance,theacceptancemaybegiveninanyreasonablemethod.

2.Acceptanceofunilateralcontract:

Anofferforaunilateralcontractisacceptedbyfullperformanceoftherequestedact.

Example:

AsaystoB,"I’llpayyou$1,000ifyoucrosstheBrooklynBridge."ThiscanonlybeacceptedbyA’sactofcompletelycrossingthebridge.（However,theofferwillberenderedtemporarilyirrevocableonceBstartstoperform,asdiscussedbelow.）

3.Offerinviteseitherpromiseorperformance:

Iftheofferdoesnotmakeclearwhetheracceptanceistooccurthroughapromiseorperformance,theoffereemayacceptbyeitherapromiseorperformance.

a.Shipmentofgoods:

Forinstance,ifabuyerofgoodsplacesa"purchaseorder"that