International Contracting Contract Management

Question: Discuss about the International Contracting for Contract Management. Answer: A contract is an agreement that is made between two parties to the contract having the intention of being legally bound and the contract be supported by consideration. Contract makes an agreement legally enforceable by nature. For formation of a valid contract, the legal requisites such as offer, acceptance, competency and consideration should be fulfilled (Deakin Morris, 2012). The following are the legal requirements and importance of a valid contract: Offer: The offeror makes an offer to the offeree when he gives his willingness to enter into a contract. The moment the offeree accepts the offer a contract comes into existence. An offer may be made orally or in writing (McKendrick, 2014). Acceptance: Following the process of offer is acceptance. This step comes after the offeree is determined to enter into a contract with the offeror. Acceptance brings into life the contract that was formed between the parties. Intention to Create Legal Relation: This means that the parties to the contract should have a legal bent to form a legal relationship with one another. For example, merely planning to meet a friend for a party is not intention for creation of a legal relationship. A legal relationship means parties have the right to sue each other in the Court for non performance of contractual obligations. Consideration: Consideration means price of the contract that the offeree pays to the offeror at his detriment. Consideration may be in cash or in kind. A contract without consideration is regarded as void (Hillman, 2012). If the above-mentioned legal requisites are not fulfilled, a contract becomes void and unenforceable in the court of law. Thus, it is important that parties to the contract follow the legal formalities to make their contract valid and enforceable. Depending on the facts, presented in the case study, the issue that shall be discussed here is whether a valid and enforceable contract existed between Linda and Kevin. Offer and acceptance are the most important legal requirements for a valid contract. Offer means a promise to do something in return of consideration. An offer is made by the offeror while accepted by the offeree. Once the offeree accepts an offer, a contract comes into existence. However, there are many situations, which at the first instance, seems that an offer is made, yet they are simply invitation to offer or invitation to treat. Invitation to treat or offer is not an offer rather an invitation for others to make an offer so that they are able to proceed with further negotiations (Puil Weele, 2014). For example, advertisements, advertisements are invitation to offer and not an offer in itself. In the case of Pharmaceutical Society v. Boots Chemist, the Court opined that the contract was not formed when the customers decided to buy goods from the shop but when the cashier finally accepts the offer to buy the goods and receives the price from the buyer. Thus, in the case of adve rtisements, a contract is not formed unless the cashier or the person who makes the offer accepts the price of the goods advertised. In the case of Fisher v. Bell, the Court held that the display of the knife with the price tag was merely an invitation to offer and not final offer. The contract was made not when the customers saw the advertisement but when they made an offer to the shopkeeper and the customer accepted the same (Ayres Schwartz, 2014). Thus, advertisements are merely invitation to offer or treat and not a final offer. If the customer makes an offer to the person who posts the advertisement, he may accept it or reject it or may want to negotiate with the offer that one has made. This is called counter offer. Thus, the stage of negotiation is termed as counter offer. Counter offer allows the contract to reach on favourable terms of the contract for both the offeror and the offeree (Hyde v. Wrench). If a contract is in the stage of negotiation that is counter offer, a c ontract cannot be considered as valid and final unless the price of consideration is paid to the person who makes the advertisement (Ayres, 2012). Likewise, in the given case study it may be held that a valid contract did not exist between Kevin and Linda as their contract was still in the stage of negotiation and counter offer. Linda did not accept the offer of Kevin and no final settlement took place between them. The contract could have been made enforceable if Linda read Kevins message and agreed to his final decision of offer. However, in this case she did not read his message and proceeded with some other transaction. Thus, it may be said in this case, that no contract existed between Kevin and Linda. Linda shall not be held liable for breach of contract and her legal position in relation to the contract is strong. Depending on the facts in the case study, the issue that shall be discussed in the answer is whether a valid contract existed between Kevin and Linda or not? For formation of a valid contract, it is important that all the legal requirements of the valid contract be fulfilled. In the case of advertisements, offer may seem illusionary as no real offer takes place. Advertisements are merely invitation to offer and not real offer. The person who sends his response to the advertisement is considered as offer. The other person has the liberty of accepting the offer or rejecting the offer or he may negotiate with the terms of agreement (Deakin Morris, 2012). In the case of Tommy and Linda, Tommy offered Linda the price of 2000 dollars for the laptop on which Linda agreed and proceeded with the payment and delivery of the laptop. In this case, one may conclude that a valid contract existed between the two as the legal formalities such as offer, counter offer, acceptance and consideration were fulfilled. Tommy made the offer in response to the advertisement; Linda accepted the offer and proceeded to make appropriate arrangements for payment and delivery. There was interaction between the two parties to the contract via message, making it clear that the legal intention of the parties was to contract with one another. Thus, it may be concluded that a valid contract existed between Linda and Tommy. References: Ayres, I. (2012).Studies in Contract Law. Foundation Press. Ayres, I., Schwartz, A. (2014). No-Reading Problem in Consumer Contract Law, The.Stan. L. Rev.,66, 545. Chen-Wishart, M. (2012).Contract law. Oxford University Press. Deakin, S. F., Morris, G. S. (2012).Labour law. Hart publishing. Hillman, R. A. (2012).The richness of contract law: An analysis and critique of contemporary theories of contract law(Vol. 28). Springer Science Business Media. McKendrick, E. (2014).Contract law: text, cases, and materials. Oxford University Press (UK). Niu, Z. (2015). The law of damages in Chinese contract law: A comparative study of damages calculation in Chinese law, English law and the CISG, with empirical results from Chinese practice. Puil, J. V. D., Weele, A. V. (2014). Contract Law and Tort Law. InInternational Contracting: Contract Management in Complex Construction Projects(pp. 285-292).