Exam 7: An Introduction to the Legal Relationship

Robert has just mailed a letter of acceptance in response to James' letter offering to sell his hardware store to Robert,when he is knocked down by a car and killed.Jane,Robert's wife and sole heir,wants to run the business,since that is what she and Robert had intended,but James does not believe a woman could run a hardware store and tells her that the deal is off.Discuss Jane's legal position.

Rahul met Jones at a street corner and made a verbal offer to buy his canoe for $200.Jones replied that he would "think about it." Rahul nodded affirmatively.The two then went about their separate business.Later in the day,Rahul met Brown,who also had a canoe for sale,and Rahul offered to purchase Brown's canoe for $175.Brown agreed to sell Rahul his canoe.At 4 p.m.the same afternoon,after Rahul and Brown had made their arrangement,Jones telephoned Rahul to say he would accept Rahul's offer to buy his canoe.Rahul is not bound in contract with Brown because the prior contract he made with Jones became enforceable when Jones accepted his offer.

Victor has breakfast at the Kute Kafey.From the menu,he orders buttered muffins "homemade like your mother's," jam "made with loving care and fresh ingredients," and tea "fresh-picked from the cool hillsides of an Indian plantation." Actually,the muffins are nothing like Victor's mum's muffins and are baked in a factory,the jam is mass-produced from industrial-quality frozen fruit,and the tea is made with no-name tea bags.Victor has a good case for breach of contract.

Salem said to Crystal over his cell phone,"Do you want to buy my car for $2,000?" Before she heard him her cell phone dropped the call.Can she accept the offer?

Andy offers to sell his car to Bob,but Bob needs to arrange financing,so Andy says he will give Bob three days to do so.Andy can revoke the offer before the three days are up.

George was an independent salesman,working sales territories in which various manufacturers did not maintain sales agents.Prior to a trip to Northern Manitoba,George informed a manufacturer of small electrical generators he expected to secure an order for fifty generators on this trip.From a more remote community,George was able to send a fax to the manufacturer which,when received,read "Send by air immediately the generators.Must be here by next Thursday." The fax should have read,"three generators" and the mistake was made solely by the fax office.The manufacturer sent fifty generators.Aside from the fact that one of the parties may have a remedy against the fax office,discuss the relevant principles of contract raised here,and determine whether there was no contract,a contract for three generators,or a contract for fifty generators.

Rosa offers Valerie the chance to buy her cottage for $25,000.Two days later,while Valerie is still considering the offer,Rosa's sister mentions to her that Rosa has sold the cottage to Ben for $30,000.If Valerie now accepts,Rosa will be liable for breach of contract.

Rahul met Jones at a street corner and made a verbal offer to buy his canoe for $200.Jones replied that he would "think about it." Rahul nodded affirmatively.The two then went about their separate business.Later in the day,Rahul met Brown,who also had a canoe for sale,and Rahul offered to purchase Brown's canoe for $175.Brown agreed to sell Rahul his canoe.At 4 p.m.the same afternoon,after Rahul and Brown had made their arrangement,Jones telephoned Rahul to say he would accept Rahul's offer to buy his canoe.Rahul's offer lapsed when Jones did not immediately accept the offer before the two parties departed on their separate business.

Ian offered to sell his horse to Wanda for $3,500.Wanda wanted to think about it and let Ian know by email.Ian agreed.Wanda emailed Ian at 11:45 that night.At 6 a.m.Ian accepted an offer to sell the horse to William for $3,700.He read his email at 8 a.m.Can Wanda sue Ian for breach of contract?

Busy Corp.sent a letter on January 12^th to Slow Co.offering to sell its main office building for $250,000,stating that its offer was open only until January 20^th,and it must have a response from Slow Co.by then.Slow Co.received the letter on January 14^th and prepared a letter of acceptance on that day,but had not posted it.The next morning Busy Corp.called and said that it had changed its mind and was withdrawing its offer.

Which of the following are NOT presumed to be binding?

Giardetti,a retailer,placed an advertisement in a local newspaper on May 5^th that read: "Special Sale! New 16" portable TV set available for sale to the first 10 customers at my store on May 10^th at a sale price of $100 each.Regular price $199.First come,first served!" Don was the 10^th customer in the store on May 10^th,but Giardetti refused to sell him a TV set for $100.If Giardetti had placed a notice on his shop door on May 9^th which read: "Sale cancelled," his notice would revoke the offer made in the newspaper on May 5^th.

John notices while mowing his lawn one summer day that while his neighbour had been on vacation,his hedge had become unkempt.Worried that people might think it were his hedge,John decided to clip the hedge himself.On his return John's neighbour thanked John for the work.Several weeks later the neighbour hired a handyman to do the same job and paid him $50.John would be entitled to payment for subsequent hedge clippings.