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What does "unilateral contract" mean in legal documents? A unilateral contract is a type of agreement where one party makes a promise that can only be accepted through action. Imagine a situation where someone offers a reward for finding a lost pet.
Similarly, the Uniform Commercial Code (UCC) says, “‘Contract’ means the total legal obligation which results from the parties’ agreement as affected by this Act and any other applicable rules of law.” As operational definitions, these two are circular; in effect, a contract is defined as an agreement that the law will hold the parties to.
Unilateral contracts are well-suited for situations where you want to incentivize a specific action, such as offering a reward for lost property. Bilateral contracts are ideal for agreements with mutual obligations, such as employment agreements or business transactions.
- Carlill v. Carbolic Smoke Ball Co.
- Offer
- Unilateral Contract
- Invitations to Treat
- Revocation of Offer
- Acceptance
- Battle of The Forms
- Postal Acceptance Rule
- Knowledge of The Offer
- Rejection, Death Or Lapse of Time
Parties:
Plaintiff: Carlill Defendant: Carbolic Smoke Ball Co.
Facts:
Defendants advertised their balls curing for cold, that they would pay for any person 100l who contracted to use the ball three times daily for two weeks according to the printed directions and defendant also added a passage that “1000l is deposited with the Alliance Bank, shewing our sincerity in the matter”. Plaintiff relied on it but it didn’t work as what the defendant said. Judgment for plaintiff and defendant appealed.
Issue:
Whether plaintiff’s performance can be an acceptance?
Treitel defines an offer as “an expression of willingness to contract on certain terms, made with the intention that it shall become binding as soon as it is accepted by the person to whom it is addressed”, the “offeree”. An offer is a statement of the terms on which the offeror is willing to be bound. The “expression” referred to in the definition...
The contract in Carlill v. Carbolic Smoke Ball Co was of a kind known as a unilateral contract, one in which the offeree accepts the offer by performing his or her side of the bargain. It can be contrasted with a bilateral contract, where there is an exchange of promises between two parties. In Australian Woollen Mills Pty Ltd v. The Commonwealth (...
An invitation to treat is not an offer, but an indication of a person’s willingness to negotiate a contract. In Harvey v. Facey, an indication by the owner of property that he or she might be interested in selling at a certain price, for example, has been regarded as an invitation to treat. Similarly in Gibson v Manchester City Council the words “m...
An offeror may revoke an offer before it has been accepted, but the revocation must be communicated to the offeree, although not necessarily by the offeror. If the offer was made to the entire world, such as in Carlill’s case, the revocation must take a form that is similar to the offer. However, an offer may not be revoked if it has been encapsula...
Test Of Acceptance
Acceptance is a final and unqualified expression of assent to the terms of an offer. It is no defense to an action based on a contract for the defendant to claim that he had not intended to be bound by the agreement, if his conduct demonstrated that he had. The essential requirement is that the parties had each from an objective perspective engaged in conduct manifesting their assent. This manifestation of assent theory of contract formation may be contrasted with older theories in which a co...
Often when two companies deal with each other in the course of business, they will use standard form contracts. Often these terms conflict (eg. both parties include a liability waiver in their form) and yet offer and acceptance are achieved forming a binding contract. The battle of the forms refers to the resulting legal dispute of these circumstan...
Main article: Mailbox rule
As a rule of convenience, if the offer is accepted by post, the contract comes into existence at the moment that the acceptance was posted (Adams v. Lindsell (1818) 106 ER 250). This rule only applies when, impliedly or explicitly, the parties have in contemplation post as a means of acceptance. It excludes contracts involving land, letters incorrectly addressed and instantaneous modes of communication. The relevance of this early 19th century rule to modern conditions, when many quicker mean...
In Australian law, there is a requirement that an acceptance is made in reliance or pursuance of an offer: see R v. Clarke (1927) 40 C.L.R. 227.
An offer can be terminated on the grounds of rejection on the part of the offeree, that is if the offeree does not accept the terms of the offer.Also upon making an offer,an offeror may include as a condition to the contract the duration in which the offer will be available.If the offeree fails to accept the offer within this specific period then t...
Nov 1, 2024 · A unilateral contract is a legally binding agreement in which only one party makes a promise that becomes enforceable only when the other party fulfills a specified action. This arrangement is often used in business and personal agreements, where a one-sided commitment from the offeror suffices until the offeree decides to act.
Unilateral contracts are a fundamental concept in contract law. They involve an offer that can only be accepted through the performance of a specified act. They are simple, clear, and have practical applications in various real-life scenarios, from lost pet rewards to contest prizes and free service trials.
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Jan 28, 2023 · What Is a Unilateral Contract? A unilateral contract is a one-sided contract agreement in which an offeror promises to pay only after the completion of a task by the offeree.
