CASE STUDY ON LAW

Case Study on Law

Case Study on Law

Question 1

Adele was extremely upset by the telephone call from Eddie cancelling the order of wild boar piglets. Adele believes that Eddie had made a legally binding contract with her that he could not break. Eddie has argued that he was within his rights to make an agreement with whoever he pleased and owes nothing to Adele.

In order to know your rights under sale of goods and/or service agreements, it is important firstly to understand the basic principles of contract law. Contract law is all about enforcing promises and making them legally binding irrespective of whether there is something in writing to this effect. Despite the word 'contract', and contrary to popular belief, a written contract is not required in order for these obligations to exist in law. A contract may also be formed verbally or by implication, simply by one party making an offer and the other party accepting that offer - even purchasing an item in a shop, or getting into a taxi are examples of this. Of course it must be proved that both offer and acceptance were clearly communicated and understood, that both parties were legally capable of making those promises, and there was something being offered in exchange for the promise (usually money). And while 'putting it in writing' is not necessary for a legally binding contract to exist, as the next section will show us, it may be hard to prove what was otherwise agreed.

Adele has every right to demand for compensation from Eddie, who had made it clear in his communication that he would get the piglets for Eddie. Before Eddie met his second supplier, he had intended to honour his agreement with Adele because it was a business agreement. However, just because he found a cheap alternative, he disregarded his earlier agreement with Adele. It could be reasoned that his action was justified since by the time he agreed to buy the piglets from the second supplier, he had not received any communication from Adele about her new terms. However this argument is not admissible in a court of law since Adele had not in fact failed to communicate, it was Eddie who did not see the fax on time. Therefore, by agreeing to buy piglets from another supplier when he had already agreed to buy them from someone else can be considered to be a breach of contract and Eddie might be required by a court of law to pay Adele in damages.

For a contract to be valid, each side must have the capacity to enter into it. Most people and companies have sufficient legal competency. A drugged or mentally-impaired person has impaired capacity and chances are a court may not hold that person to the contract. Minors (e.g., usually those under eighteen) cannot, generally, enter into a binding contract without parental consent, unless it is for the necessities of life, such as food, clothing, or for student ...