MO Bar Contracts and Commercial Law 1 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: Under Missouri contract law, which element is NOT required for a valid contract?
- Offer
- Acceptance
- Consideration
- Written documentation (Correct answer)
Correct answer: Written documentation
A valid contract requires offer, acceptance, and consideration, but written documentation is generally not required unless the Statute of Frauds applies.
Question 2: Under the UCC Article 2, which type of contract governs the sale of goods in Missouri?
- Service contracts
- Real estate contracts
- Sales of goods contracts (Correct answer)
- Employment contracts
Correct answer: Sales of goods contracts
UCC Article 2 governs contracts for the sale of goods—movable, tangible personal property—and has been adopted in Missouri.
Question 3: Which doctrine allows a court to refuse enforcement of a contract that is oppressively one-sided?
- Promissory estoppel
- Unconscionability (Correct answer)
- Impossibility
- Anticipatory repudiation
Correct answer: Unconscionability
Unconscionability (both procedural and substantive) allows courts to refuse to enforce or limit application of oppressively unfair contract terms.
Question 4: Under the mirror image rule applicable to common law contracts, an acceptance that varies the terms of the offer is treated as what?
- A valid acceptance
- A counteroffer and rejection (Correct answer)
- A conditional acceptance
- A modification
Correct answer: A counteroffer and rejection
Under the common law mirror image rule, any acceptance that changes the terms of the offer operates as a counteroffer and rejection of the original offer.
Question 5: In Missouri, which of the following contracts must be in writing to be enforceable under the Statute of Frauds?
- Contracts performable within one year
- Contracts for the sale of land (Correct answer)
- Month-to-month leases
- Service contracts under $500
Correct answer: Contracts for the sale of land
Missouri's Statute of Frauds requires contracts for the sale of real property to be in writing and signed by the party to be charged.
Question 6: Which remedy places the non-breaching party in the position they would have occupied had the contract been fully performed?
- Restitution
- Expectation damages (Correct answer)
- Reliance damages
- Nominal damages
Correct answer: Expectation damages
Expectation damages aim to give the non-breaching party the benefit of the bargain by putting them in as good a position as performance would have provided.
MO Bar Contracts and Commercial Law 1
Under Missouri contract law, which element is NOT required for a valid contract?