Contracts Flashcards

A contract is voidable on the ground of mutual mistake when:

Answer: Both parties were mistaken about a basic assumption materially affecting the agreed exchange

Mutual mistake requires both parties to share a mistaken belief about a basic assumption that materially affects the agreed exchange of performances.

An offeree's power of acceptance is terminated by:

Answer: Rejection, counteroffer, lapse of time, revocation, or death of the offeror

The power of acceptance terminates by rejection, counteroffer, lapse, revocation before acceptance, or the death or incapacity of either party.

Under the doctrine of promissory estoppel, a promise is enforceable without consideration if:

Answer: The promisor should have reasonably expected reliance, reliance occurred, and injustice can only be avoided by enforcement

Promissory estoppel requires a promise, foreseeable and actual reliance to the promisee's detriment, and that enforcement is necessary to avoid injustice.

Expectation damages in contract law are designed to put the non-breaching party in the position they would have been in:

Answer: If the contract had been fully performed

Expectation damages award the benefit of the bargain, placing the non-breaching party in the economic position they would have occupied had the contract been performed.

A condition precedent in a contract is one that must occur:

Answer: Before a party's duty to perform arises

A condition precedent must occur before the duty to perform under the contract becomes operative.

The doctrine of impossibility of performance excuses a party's contractual obligation when:

Answer: Performance becomes objectively impossible due to an unforeseen event after contract formation

Impossibility excuses performance when an unforeseen supervening event makes the promised performance objectively impossible, not merely more difficult or costly.