Discussion Questions Week 3 - Essay Example

enter into the contract is important since it can help to protect either party in the case of a disagreement, as well as to ensure that the agreement is carried out as planned. The legal competence of each party is important so that the contract can be enforceable in a court of law if the need arises. According to J. Rank (2008, pg. 1), a bilateral contract is, “An agreement formed by an exchange of a promise in which the promise of one party is consideration supporting the promise of the other party.

A bilateral contract is distinguishable from a unilateral contract, a promise made by one party in exchange for the performance of some act by the other party. The party to a unilateral contract whose performance is sought is not obligated to act, but if he or she does, the party that made the promise is bound to comply with the terms of the agreement. In a bilateral contract both parties are bound by their exchange of promises.” There are a number of examples that could constitute each type of contract.

For instance, consider first the bilateral contract. An example of a bilateral contract that an individual could encounter would include a contract in which an individual purchasing a car agrees to purchase the vehicle if and only if the car dealership agrees to fix a dent in the car before it is delivered. If either party fails to keep up his or her end of the bargain, the contract is breached. An example of a unilateral contract could be a lease. In this case, the individual agrees to stay at a property for a certain length of time, but the property owners promise nothing.

According to the Department of Justice (2008, pg. 1), “All contracts may be oral, except such as are specially required by statute to be in writing. Where a contract, which is required by law to be in writing, is prevented from being put in writing by the fraud of a party thereto, any other party is by such fraud led to believe that it is in writing, and acts upon such belief to