Contract Law
Chapter 3 Lecture Notes
Acceptance
The purpose of this chapter is to inform the student of the various methods of accepting an offer, and the requirements and ramifications incident thereto. The chapter begins with a Chapter Overview that presents a short summary of the material that will be detailed in the chapter. This preview allows the student to prepare for the material that will be presented by having the most important points highlighted beforehand.
The main text of the chapter starts with the Definition of Acceptance. This section is a natural progression of the first chapter in its discussion of the six requirements for the creation of a valid contract. This portion of the chapter discusses the implications of an offeree varying the terms of the offer or the offeree remaining silent and indicates who has the power to accept an offer. Discussion can usually be generated with respect to silence because most students have received various types of offers in the mail and can relate the text material to their own lives.
Section C, Methods of Acceptance, details the difference in the means of accepting bilateral and unilateral contracts and introduces the Mailbox Rule. With the various advances in technology since the formation of the Mailbox Rule, the effect of the Rule on modern means of transmission can be analyzed in the classroom.
The next section of the chapter covers the termination of an offer, and presents the concept of “operation of law.” Operation of law may be a new concept for most of the students, and examples can be discussed with respect to each of the methods highlighted in the text, especially with respect to supervening illegality.
This chapter is the only chapter that contains no Sample Clauses because of the Mirror Image Rule. This can be discussed in detail in class as a reinforcement of the concept of the effect of varying the terms of the offer.
The Chapter summary is divided into two main sections. The first section is a prose recapitulation of the material covered in the chapter and provides the student with a quick review. The second section is a synopsis that acts as an outline of the chapter material. Most paralegal students like to be given an outline of the course material, and BASIC CONTRACT LAW FOR PARALEGALS provides such an outline. The outline can be used during the classroom discussion so that class notes can be interlineated with the synopsis, letting the student listen to the lecture rather than taking down notes as dictation.
The Chapter Summary is followed by a glossary of Key Terms that have been discussed in the chapter and can be used by the student to reinforce his or her recollection of the most important terms analyzed.
The chapter continues with five Exercise questions. Questions 1, 2, and 5 are general questions that require a basic understanding of the material contained in the chapter. Question 3 is an exercise in simple contract drafting in which the student is required to put some limitations on the ability of the offeree to accept. Question 4 is a theoretical question asking the student to argue the law presented in the text and to argue a proposition resolving the examples given in the text. By arguing opposite sides of the same set of facts, the student gets the perspective of what it is like to have a real client whose position may not always be the easily argued side of a controversy. These questions can be discussed in class or given as a written homework assignment. Question 4 also could be used for mock argument in the classroom.
Chapter 3 provides two Cases for Analysis that are intended to underscore the difference between creating an acceptance by conduct rather than words and distinguishes between an acceptance and a counteroffer. The questions following United States v Lauckner provide the student with the opportunity to analyze how the court interprets the mirror image rule and its analysis of the litigants’ settlement.
In the Monsour’s case, the student is presented with a situation in which a party’s counteroffer destroys its ability to accept the initial offer presented to it.
The Suggested Case References highlight Adams v. Lindsell, the case that established the Mailbox Rule, and lets the student analyze the facts the court found determinative. This can be done in class or as a homework assignment. The second case provides an interesting factual situation that can be used to generate classroom discussion of unilateral contracts and the requirements with respect to a person’s ability to accept an offer.
The chapter concludes with a section on Ethical Considerations, underscoring the fact that the acts of a legal assistant are imputed to the supervising attorney.