Elements of a Contract
Elements of a Contract
Angelique Gares
BUS670 Legal Environment
Professor Roger Amos
May 24, 2010
.
This paper is a study of the Element of a Contract detailing the essential elements that constitute a legal binding agreement. A contract can be defined as an agreement between two or more persons for example, individuals, organizations or government agencies and or business, to do, or to refrain from doing something in exchange for something of value. The text states “to qualify as a contract, a set of promises must be based on a voluntary agreement, which is made up of an offer and an acceptance of that offer. In addition, there usually must be consideration to support each party’s promise. The contract must be between parties who have capacity to contract, and the objective and performance of the contract must be legal” (cited in Mallor, J.P., Barnes, A.J., Bowers, T., & Langvardt, A.W. (2010). Business Law: The Ethical, Global and E-Commerce Environment. New York McGraw-Hill/Irwin. pg. 328).
An offer is the promise made by one party to another. For example in my profession as a Technical Sales Expert at Verizon, I sell good and services to Global Fortune 500 companies and present sales offers to my customers for these telecommunication services. These offers can be written or verbal but are always in clear an unambiguous terms. Offers can be unilateral or bilateral but in my contract cycle it is unilateral. Such offers can either be finalized, when all mutual promises are fulfilled. Or they can expire, if not timely accepted, such as in a sales promotion. The offer can be void, if any of the parties do not or cannot deliver on the promise. Also offers can also be rescinded after acceptance, unless a clause of the offer stipulates that revocation is not allowed. Offers are not legally binding.
Like the offer phase of the contract the acceptance must be given in clear terms. At Verizon, for example the offer and acceptance must be done in good faith. To
Angelique Gares
BUS670 Legal Environment
Professor Roger Amos
May 24, 2010
.
This paper is a study of the Element of a Contract detailing the essential elements that constitute a legal binding agreement. A contract can be defined as an agreement between two or more persons for example, individuals, organizations or government agencies and or business, to do, or to refrain from doing something in exchange for something of value. The text states “to qualify as a contract, a set of promises must be based on a voluntary agreement, which is made up of an offer and an acceptance of that offer. In addition, there usually must be consideration to support each party’s promise. The contract must be between parties who have capacity to contract, and the objective and performance of the contract must be legal” (cited in Mallor, J.P., Barnes, A.J., Bowers, T., & Langvardt, A.W. (2010). Business Law: The Ethical, Global and E-Commerce Environment. New York McGraw-Hill/Irwin. pg. 328).
An offer is the promise made by one party to another. For example in my profession as a Technical Sales Expert at Verizon, I sell good and services to Global Fortune 500 companies and present sales offers to my customers for these telecommunication services. These offers can be written or verbal but are always in clear an unambiguous terms. Offers can be unilateral or bilateral but in my contract cycle it is unilateral. Such offers can either be finalized, when all mutual promises are fulfilled. Or they can expire, if not timely accepted, such as in a sales promotion. The offer can be void, if any of the parties do not or cannot deliver on the promise. Also offers can also be rescinded after acceptance, unless a clause of the offer stipulates that revocation is not allowed. Offers are not legally binding.
Like the offer phase of the contract the acceptance must be given in clear terms. At Verizon, for example the offer and acceptance must be done in good faith. To