Law
Unilateral Contract
A unilateral contract is a legally binding agreement in which one party makes a promise in exchange for the performance of a specific act by the other party. In this type of contract, only one party is obligated to fulfill their promise, while the other party's performance is optional. Once the specified act is completed, the contract becomes enforceable.
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6 Key excerpts on "Unilateral Contract"
eBook - PDF- Richard A. Mann; Barry S. Roberts, Richard Mann, Barry Roberts(Authors)
- 2016(Publication Date)
- Cengage Learning EMEA(Publisher)
Unilateral Contracts [12-1b] In a Unilateral Contract, a promise is exchanged for a completed act or a forbearance to act. Because only one promise exists, only one party, the offeror , makes a promise and is therefore the promisor while the other party, the offeree , is the person receiving the promise and, thus, is the promisee . For example, A promises to pay B $2,000 if B paints A’s house. B paints A’s house. A B promises to pay $2,000 act of painting house Promisor Promisee A’s promise is binding only if it is supported by con-sideration consisting of either a legal detriment to B, the promisee (offeree), or a legal benefit to A, the promisor (offeror). B’s painting the house is a legal detriment to B, the promisee, because she was under no prior legal duty to paint A’s house. Also, B’s painting of A’s house is a legal benefit to A, the promisor, because A had no prior legal right to have his house painted by B. A Unilateral Contract also may consist of a promise exchanged for a forbearance. To illustrate, A negli-gently injures B, for which B may recover damages in a tort action. A promises B $5,000 if B forbears from bringing suit. B accepts by not suing. A B promises to pay $5,000 forbearance from suing Promisor Promisee A’s promise to pay B $5,000 is binding because it is supported by consideration; B, the promisee (offeree), has incurred a legal detriment by refraining from bring-ing suit, which he was under no prior legal obligation to refrain from doing. A, the promisor (offeror), has received a legal benefit because she had no prior legal right to B’s forbearance from bringing suit. Bilateral Contracts [12-1c] In a bilateral contract there is an exchange of promises.
eBook - PDFObligations
Law and Language
- Martin Hogg(Author)
- 2017(Publication Date)
- Cambridge University Press(Publisher)
The phrase ‘Unilateral Contract’ is used again in a Privy Council appeal from Australia later in 1873, 81 and (in a reference to the Great Northern Railway case) in a House of Lords appeal from 1876. 82 Thereafter it appears with reasonable regularity in the English case law. Brett J suggested a usage of ‘unilateral’ (sense two) which he applied to contract. On such an analysis, a ‘promisor’ is usually seen as making an offer of a Unilateral Contract, which the promisee accepts by performing the conduct which is the stipulated condition for enforcing the promise. This is not quite the unilateral promise of Scots law (which binds the promisor the instant the promise is issued, and need not be conditional), as the promisor can withdraw until the promisee begins to carry out the stipulated conduct. On occasion, it has been said that the issuing of the promise itself creates a Unilateral Contract, 83 but that strays too far towards the Scottish unilateral promissory approach, and such statements cannot be seen as orthodox in English law. Apart from the promise of reward of the sort described by Brett J, a transaction commonly viewed in Unilateral Contractual terms is the option. Reported judgments concerning options often relate to options given to tenants in leases to buy the leased subjects at the termination of the lease, 84 or options to buy goods or shares. 85 Unlike the case of an offer of reward, in which no consideration will be given until the stipulated conduct is performed, offers giving the offeree an option to purchase 81 Blackmore v. North Australian Co Ltd (1873) LR 5 PC 24. 82 Rhodes v. Forwood (1876) LR 1 App Cas 256. 83 See, for instance, Denning LJ in Errington v. Errington [1952] 1 KB 290: ‘The father’s promise was a Unilateral Contract – a promise of the house in return for their act of paying the instalments’ (the ‘offer of a Unilateral Contract’ would have been a more accurate statement).
eBook - PDF- (Author)
- 2013(Publication Date)
- The Floating Press(Publisher)
In a Unilateral Contract, the contract imposes obligations on one party only. A promissory note is an example of a Unilateral Contract. In a bilateral contract, obligation is imposed on both parties. John and Mary become engaged to each other. This is a bilateral contract, and either may sue the other for a breach. Most important results 22 flow from the distinction between unilateral and bilateral contracts. This we shall consider later. VOID, VOIDABLE AND UNENFORCEABLE CONTRACTS.—Contracts are also divided into void, voidable and unenforceable contracts. Strictly speaking, a void contract is no contract at all. Some statutes provide that no action shall be brought on certain contracts, and declare them absolutely void. A voidable contract is one which is good until the option of avoiding it is availed of by the party who has the option. For example, an infant with an income of $2000 a year contracts for the delivery of a Packard automobile on June 1. The car, being a luxury, makes the contract with the infant voidable on his part, and he may, before June 1, repudiate the contract and not be liable in a suit for breach of contract, or he may, if he choses, abide by the contract, take the car, and pay the purchase price when it is delivered. An unenforceable contract is one which in itself is perfectly good as a contract, but because of some rule of law cannot be enforced. For example, A agrees, orally, with the owner of 1 Broadway, to buy that property for $1,000,000. The terms of the contract are understood by both parties. This contract is not enforceable, because, as we shall see later, the Statute of Frauds requires every contract for the sale of real property to be in writing. CONTRACTS UNDER SEAL.—There are two ways of making promises binding, and unless the promisor fulfils the requisites of one or the other of these two ways his promise will not be binding.
- Pamela Tepper(Author)
- 2021(Publication Date)
- Cengage Learning EMEA(Publisher)
In a bilateral contract, the parties exchange a promise for a promise, whereas in a Unilateral Contract only one party makes a promise, with the other party required to do some act in return. An express contract is one that is specifically stated. It can be oral or written. An implied contract, however, may be one of two types. There is an implied in fact contract, which is inferred from the facts and circumstances of the transaction, or an implied in law contract, which is court created. Contracts may be executed contracts, which are fully performed contracts, or executory contracts, Copyright 2022 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be copied, scanned, or duplicated, in whole or in part. Due to electronic rights, some third party content may be suppressed from the eBook and/or eChapter(s). Editorial review has deemed that any suppressed content does not materially affect the overall learning experience. Cengage Learning reserves the right to remove additional content at any time if subsequent rights restrictions require it. 40 PART I AN INTRODUCTION TO CONTRACTS in which a condition or promise has not been performed by one or all of the parties. Another classification dis- tinguishes void, voidable, and enforceable contracts. A void contract has no legal effect and can never become a contract; whereas a voidable contract can be canceled or avoided by one of the parties. An unenforceable con- tract is one that may have all the elements of a contract, but because of a formality or supervening event, such as the passage of a statute, the contract is unenforceable. The final category is formal and informal contracts, which a formal contract requiring the parties to fulfill certain legal formalities. An informal contract, in contrast, has no special legal requirements.
eBook - PDF- Richard Mann, Barry Roberts(Authors)
- 2019(Publication Date)
- Cengage Learning EMEA(Publisher)
The non-illusory promise can serve as the offer for a uni- lateral contract, which the promisor who made the illusory promise can accept by performance.” [Citation.] We agree with that statement, but the court of appeals erroneously applied those holdings to the current case. The issue turns on the distinction between bilateral and Unilateral Contracts. “A bilateral contract is one in which there are mutual promises between two parties to the con- tract, each party being both a promisor and a promisee.” [Citations.] A Unilateral Contract, on the other hand, is “cre- ated by the promisor promising a benefit if the promisee performs. The contract becomes enforceable when the prom- isee performs.” [Citation.] Both Sheshunoff and Light con- cerned bilateral contracts in which employers made promises in exchange for employees’ promises not to compete with their companies after termination. [Citations.] The court of appeals’ explanation of these cases—describing an exchange of promises where one party makes an illusory promise and the other a non-illusory promise—describes the attempted formation of a bilateral contract, not a Unilateral Contract. [Citation.] *** The court of appeals held that even if AES promised to pay the employees the five percent, that promise was illu- sory at the time it was made because the employees were at-will, and AES could have fired all of them prior to the acquisition. [Citation.] But whether the promise was illu- sory at the time it was made is irrelevant; what matters is whether the promise became enforceable by the time of the breach. [Citations.] Almost all Unilateral Contracts begin as illusory promises. Take, for instance, the classic textbook example of a Unilateral Contract: “I will pay you $50 if you paint my house.” The offer to pay the individual to paint the house can be withdrawn at any point prior to performance. But once the individual accepts the offer by performing, the promise to pay the $50 becomes binding.
eBook - PDF- Richard Mann, Barry Roberts(Authors)
- 2017(Publication Date)
- Cengage Learning EMEA(Publisher)
be formed when one of the parties makes only an illusory promise but the other party makes a non-illusory promise. The non-illusory promise can serve as the offer for a unilat-eral contract, which the promisor who made the illusory promise can accept by performance.” [Citation.] We agree with that statement, but the court of appeals erroneously applied those holdings to the current case. The issue turns on the distinction between bilateral and Unilateral Contracts. “A bilateral contract is one in which there are mutual promises between two parties to the con-tract, each party being both a promisor and a promisee.” [Citations.] A Unilateral Contract, on the other hand, is “created by the promisor promising a benefit if the promisee performs. The contract becomes enforceable when the promisee performs.” [Citation.] Both Sheshunoff and Light concerned bilateral contracts in which employers made promises in exchange for employees’ promises not to com-pete with their companies after termination. [Citations.] The court of appeals’ explanation of these cases—describing an exchange of promises where one party makes an illusory promise and the other a non-illusory promise—describes the attempted formation of a bilateral contract, not a Unilateral Contract. [Citation.] * * * The court of appeals held that even if AES promised to pay the employees the five percent, that promise was illusory at the time it was made because the employees were at-will, and AES could have fired all of them prior to the acquisition. [Citation.] But whether the promise was illusory at the time it was made is irrelevant; what matters is whether the promise became enforceable by the time of the breach. [Citations.] Almost all Unilateral Contracts begin as illusory promises. Take, for instance, the classic textbook example of a Unilateral Contract: “I will pay you $50 if you paint my house.” The offer to pay the individual to paint the house can be withdrawn at any point prior to performance.
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