Laws Governing Contracts - Essay Example

Laws of Contracts Affiliation Laws of Contracts Question There are a variety of situations that need to be determined before entering into a contract. Failure to adhere to such stipulated regulations imply that the agreement is considered null and void. As a result, when one enters into a contract, they have a fiduciary obligation to ensure that all considerations of a contract, hold in a court of law are adhered. One such important consideration is the age of those entering into an agreement. The law stipulates that anyone below the ages of 18 are not allowed to enter into any contract. If a minor enters into any contract, then the viability of that agreement is brought to doubt. Therefore, the salesperson at Outdoor Outfitters should have been aware that Neal was 12 years old, and as such could not participate in any formal decision-making. The purchaser of the pair of the ski was negligent. Even after being reminded to practice before purchasing his equipment, he proceeded against the salesperson’s advice. If only had he listened to the advice given to him by the seller’s agent, then he would not have suffered those injuries as a result of the accident. Moreover, if he had practiced before purchasing the pair of ski, then he would not have had the accident to begin with. Every retailer has an obligation to ensure that their consumers are protected. Protection involves giving information relating to a product. Additionally, the seller should ensure that the person to whom the products is being sold is in a position to make wise decisions relating to the use of the product. Therefore, every seller has a duty of care to ensure consumer protection. Though the salesperson informed the 12-year-old that he had to practice first before using the pair of ski, he had a duty of ensuring that Neal did not gain access to the equipment. As such, he could have demanded that the child return with an older person with whom he could engage in a contract. However, he did not do this, and he proceeded to sell the pair of the ski to the minor. Question 2 In every business transaction, there is always an invitation to trade. This involves the seller inviting the potential buyers to come to the table so as to negotiate the sale of a particular instrument. However, this does not entail that the potential buyer has an obligation to purchase the item in question. The buyer usually has two options in this scenario; either, to accept the offer or reject it. In signing a contract, both parties involved should be in their right state of mind. This involves ensuring that the parties meet the age requirement, are not incapacitated and are not under duress. Though Don was elderly, he was of sound mind and was, therefore, able to enter into a lawful contract. However, when entering into the contract, Evans had given Don tough conditions. Therefore, the elderly man had to sell his stock and bonds in order to raise cash that would be invested into Evans’ professional gambling business. Being an elderly person, had Evans thrown him out, fending for himself would have become a complicated affair. Therefore, he had to enter the contract. Don can therefore, set aside the contract by arguing that his nephew did not give him a choice. This is termed as signing a contract under undue influence and violates the requirements of a contract. This is because a contract is meant to be an agreement between two or more individuals. The selling of the stock and bonds was not Don’s idea but he had to comply or else Evans would have thrown him out of his house. Question 3 In contract situations written agreements usually exceed the influence of oral agreements. This is because written contracts offer a reference point in case conflicts arise. Additionally, when signing a contract, it is assumed that every party has read and fully understood the terms and conditions surrounding the convention being entered into. A receipt is usually given in cases of cash sales whereas other documents may be used to signify the change in ownership of an item. In the case between Standard Storage Company vs Tri-Country Investment Corporation, the primary component of offering a solution is the definition of a warehouse. A warehouse is described as a housing structure used by manufacturers, producers, exporters, and importers to store their products. It is therefore, clear that a warehouse is simply a structure and as such items inside the warehouse should be negotiated separately. This therefore, means that though standard Storage Company had promised Tri-county Investment Corporation that it would offer the furniture inside the warehouse as part of the sale, it had no obligation. As a result, the buyers had only purchased the warehouse and not any other item. They therefore, had no claim on the furniture as that was not part of the contract they signed. The sellers, therefore, had an absolute right over the furniture as they were not part of the warehouse and the document signed did not give details relating to the purchase of furniture. Moreover, the document that both parties signed when they were entering into the contract explicitly stated that the signing superseded any other oral arrangements that they had engaged in the past. Therefore, the buyers should have critically analyzed the document before signing as the document did not mention anything to do with the furniture. Question 4 Specific performance refers to a specialized form of court settlement where payment of money is not considered as the most efficient remedy. In this scenario, the damaged caused by the failure of the other party to adhere to the requirements of the contracts is not settled by the use of cash. Rather, the court decides on another form of compensation that would ensure the party that suffers the loss is indemnified. General Equity Corporation entered into a contract with an artist so that the artist (Nancy) would provide a mosaic of her famous painting. This agreement gave the artist an obligation of fulfilling the contract needs, however time passed by and the artist finally defaulted by not providing the mosaic that she had been contracted to create. Since specific performances are usually tailored to ensure that the party that suffers the loss is compensated, the court should not grant it in this case. This is because the building has changed ownership such that even if the court were to order Nancy to produce the mosaic, the beneficiary would be Jewel Funds. Jewel Funds had however, not entered into any contracts with the artists. The court should instead initiate a specific performance remedy to enable Ideal investments recover the costs that resulted out of General Equity Corporation’s failure to honor the contract they had. As such, the company should be ordered to compensate Ideal for any losses suffered as the contract between Jewel Fund and Equity Corporations violated an existing contract between the latter and ideal investments. Question 5 Though the new legislation does not allow the advertisement of video games, the basic argument can be based on the fact that the ad was meant for other age groups and not the minors. Additionally, the companies can argue that they do not control the playing patterns amongst the children; therefore, they should not be blamed for an increase in the number of children playing the games. Games Marketing Inc. can defend itself against violation of the state by arguing that Channel 4 should have regulated its content before airing. Since the legislation passed by the State of Utopia was common knowledge to everyone, then Channel 4 must have been aware of the law that prohibited advertising of video games. Moreover, GMI had only acted by placing advertisement on various channels. However, the final decision on airing of the ads had to be made by the media. For Channel 4, its defense can be based on meeting its contractual agreements with GMI. The marketers from the video game company were acting under duress and due influence. They had been ordered to by the company’s President to place advertisements to media stations that would in turn promote the company’s video games. Therefore, a contract did not exist between GMI and Channel 4 since the employees from the former were under duress when placing the company’s products on advertisement. Finally, simply because the ad was aired did not imply that the minors were the target audience. The advertisement would have been targeting a particular age bracket above that of the minors. References Parker, John (2013). The Business Today: Laws Governing Contracts. USA: Minnesota State University. Read More