Contract Law
What is Contracts Law?
The concept of a contract dates back to ancient times. However, the modern rules regarding the formation and interpretation of contract is largely derived from the common law legal system. A contract is an agreement between two or more people having a lawful objective to do some thing or purchase some product in exchange for a corresponding exchange of value.
The elements of a contract are:
Offer and Acceptance (often called a meeting of the minds)
Consideration (the value exchanged between the parties)
and Mutuality of Obligation (one cannot be required to give substantially more than the other)
Some also consider capacity, or the legal competence to enter into a contract, an element of its formation.
Remedies
Contracts usually have two primary forms of recovery: damages, or the money equivalent to the value the party would have received from the contract had there been no breach, and specific performance, or the requirement that the party must carry out its obligations under the agreement.
Both of these remedies award the non-breaching party with the lost benefit of the bargain or the expectation damages.
Related Concepts
In some instances, even when one of the elements of contract formation are absent, the law requires the creation of a fictional agreement, called a quasi-contract. Unjust enrichment keeps one from receiving the benefit of a product without paying for it, even if they did not formally contract for it. Quantum meruit is a similar concept but usually pertains to the provision of services.
For more information about contract law, you can review the materials found below or you can find an attorney in your jurisdiction by visiting the Law Firms page on our website.
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Contract Law Articles
- New Law Broadens Reach of California’s Non-Compete Restrictions to Those Signed Out of StateOn September 1, 2023, Governor Newsom signed Senate Bill (SB) 699, which enhances the current state law that voids contracts that restrain an employee from engaging in a lawful profession, trade, or business.
- How Virtual Interior Designers Tackle 6 E-Design Challenges With Their Service AgreementsProviding e-design services offers interior designers numerous advantages, including increased accessibility to clients and the ability to work remotely. However, like any service conducted primarily online, e-design comes with its own set of challenges. In this article, we go over some of the biggest issues interior designers face when providing e-design services and what their E-Design Services Agreements can say to help mitigate the potential for resulting disputes.
- What Are the Rights of a Minority Shareholder in California?What are the best strategies to assert and protect your rights and interests as a minority stakeholder in a California business or corporation?
- Why Is an LLC Operating Agreement So Important in California?What is the purpose behind an LLC operating agreement and why is this such an important document in an LLC in San Diego and Southern California? In these days of downloading forms from a website and rushing into business most LLCs miss one of the most important issues in the process of forming a business – the operating agreement.
- What Are Corporate Bylaws and a Shareholders’ Agreement?What are the corporate bylaws and the shareholders’ agreement in an S Corporation, C Corporation, Professional Corporation or Management Service Organization or MSO? What protections do they provide? Why is it important for you to thoroughly review these documents during business formation and at regular intervals throughout the life of your corporation?
- Can My Accountant or CPA Draft My Florida Business's Legal Documents?Should you ask your accountant or CPA to draft my legal business documents. In short, no. But equally so you should not have your business lawyer prepare your taxes unless that person is also an accountant or CPA. Occasionally accountants or CPAs try to serve their clients and help them by preparing bylaws for an Inc. or an operating agreement for an LLC or contracts. But those people lack the experience and training of skilled business attorneys and their good intentions often make matters worse.
- What Legal Documents Best Protect Your BusinessIn addition to representing businesses in disputes, business lawyers provide advice and counsel to help business owners avoid trouble. Aside from a house or large boat, a business is likely the largest investment of time and money that a person can make. Failing to plan for success and growth with the right corporate governance and business documents can jeopardize that investment.
- Planning for a Transition in Your Florida BusinessBusiness transition planning is preparing for the handover by sale, but-out, or take-over following the demise of the owner. This is accomplished through corporate governance documents like an operating agreement or partnership agreement.
- How Your Business Can Avoid Legal ProblemsThe best way to avoid legal problems that can plague a business and drain its resources is prior planning. Running a business of any size requires business acumen and planning. Savvy business owners regularly review marketing plans, inventory, and customers to adjust to market changes. Important business documents must be part of that review.
- Do You Need to Hire a Lawyer for Your Florida BusinessYou do not need to hire a business lawyer near you if your company and the business law attorney use technology that will allow for timely and efficient communications between the two of you. Even before the coronavirus pandemic, technology that allowed businesses to operate remotely dramatically improved and substantially increased. The practice of law has embraced those technologies making it easier for business lawyers to provide cost-effective and efficient services to their business clients. So a key question to ask a business lawyer you are considering hiring or retaining is whether that law firm or lawyer has embraced these technologies and can be responsive to and keep up with your business.
- All Business and Industry Law Articles
Articles written by attorneys and experts worldwide discussing legal aspects related to Business and Industry including: agency and distributorship, agency law, business and industry, business formation, business law, commercial law, contracts, corporate governance, corporate law, e-commerce, food and beverages law, franchising, industrial and manufacturing, joint ventures, legal economics, marketing law, mergers and acquisitions, offshore services, privatization law, retail, shareholders rights and utilities.
