Contract law – what you need to know
Contracts are the foundations of trust, in both business contexts and everyday life. Understanding contract law empowers you to navigate agreements confidently and unlock opportunities with ease. Let’s discuss what you need to know about contract law.
What is contract law?
Contract law is the legal framework for agreements between two or more parties. It sets rules for creating, interpreting and enforcing contracts. Contract law serves to ensure that all terms of a contract are followed. It applies to the majority of agreements that involve goods, services, money, employment or real estate. It’s based on the principle that agreements must be honored and upheld.
In legal and business transactions, contracts serve as legally-binding documents that set forth unambiguous terms and conditions between parties. These terms and conditions, ideally, provide an effective framework for fair agreements, protect legal rights, and minimise costly disputes by outlining each party’s responsibilities and obligations. The terms and conditions of a contract ultimately retain enforceability in court if necessary, and safeguard against potential legal issues while promoting smooth operations.
Key elements of a valid contract
A few key elements of a contract are understood to power its creation, signing, and execution. These elements of a contract include:
- Contract offer: A contracting party makes an offer, and another party can accept the offer. A counter offer can be made first but – if not – the contract can be accepted by the receiving party.
- Contract acceptance: There is a mutual acknowledgment of the terms and conditions of a contract. Conditional acceptance can also be put forth in the interest of further modifying a contract to the benefit of the parties involved.
- Acknowledgment of obligations and mutuality: Contract parties acknowledge that they are entering into a legally binding agreement – the obligations of which are legally enforceable under contract law.
- Contractual consideration: In the engagement of a contract, something of value is to be exchanged for something of value. This concept can be understood with the familiar Latin phrase “quid pro quo” (something in return).
- Legal capacity of contract parties Involved: In order for two parties to enter into a contract, each party must be legally able to enter into a valid contract. In other words, contract parties must be legally competent (sound mind, not disqualified from contracts by any law, of the legal age of maturity) under contract law.
- Legality of a contract: contract law requires that a contract must be for a legal purpose between contract parties. A contract cannot be intended to facilitate an illegal enterprise – in which case it is evident to be null and void.
Types of contracts in contract law
Let’s review the categorisations of contracts under contract law.
A written contract is a legally binding agreement that is documented in writing (physical or virtual) and is usually signed by all parties involved. Oral contracts, meanwhile, are made verbally through spoken communication and without a written document to record the terms. Both types of contracts can be considered legally enforceable, but written contracts are generally preferred because it is easy to prove the terms involved.
An implied contract, unlike its express counterpart, doesn’t require written or spoken words to come into existence. It’s like a silent agreement, where actions and circumstances do the talking. Imagine you’re dining at a restaurant. You order, eat, and at the end of the meal, you’re presented with the bill. You never explicitly agreed to pay when you ordered, but by dining, you entered into an implied contract to pay for the meal.
Per unilateral contracts, one party makes a promise and the contract is only valid if the other party decides to perform. Bilateral contracts, meanwhile, involve both parties exchanging promises, with each being equally required to perform under the terms of the contract. In this sense, unilateral contracts involve one-sided approach, whereas a bilateral contract is an agreement mutual or two-sided.
Breach of contract and solutions
A breach of contract means one party is failing or has failed to meet the terms of the contract – thus violating contract law. Breach of contract can result from issues with:
- making payments on time
- performing obligations on time
- violating compliance, regulations or standards
- incorrectly completing obligations.
There are solutions under contract law that can help remedy a breach. Let’s take a look at some common solutions.
- Compensatory damages: This solution aims to serve as a sort of ‘reset’. The breaching party repays the other party – whether financially or with action(s) – in a manner that returns them to their original standing prior to the contract.
- Punitive damages: In addition to the steps toward the return to stasis described above, additional compensation is provided to the non-breaching party for additional suffering.
- Specific performance: Things keep moving with regard to the contract. The breaching party must perform the obligation that it is failing to perform.
Contract law and AI
Contract intelligence helps in contract law by automating repetitive tasks associated with contracts. Contract drafting can be automated with data mapping, the merging of pre-approved clauses and templates, and generative AI powered clause generation. Contract review can be streamlined with risk flagging of contract language and sentiment analysis. Users of contract AI can also leverage auto-redlining of contract clauses in favour of those that were previously approved and successful. With these tools, contracts are more likely to be applicable under contract law.
Some important takeaways
Understanding contract law is significant because it ensures fairness and predictability through clarity – ultimately protecting individuals and businesses from costly losses and legal hangup when entering contracts. Essentially, contract law allows people to confidently navigate agreements in personal and professional life by knowing if a contract is legitimate and how it can be enforced if needed.
And what is needed to navigate contracts smoothly under contract law? The right tools.
Contract management software helps streamline the contract lifecycle, automate repetitive tasks, enhance visibility into contract details, facilitate efficient negotiation, and foster compliance by providing features like the ones mentioned above, automated notifications and reminders, a secure contract repository, and more.
Book a free demo of Contract Insight, award-winning contract management software from Four.
At Four we’re committed to delivering high-quality, reliable software that meets the real-world demands of modern procurement. Our contract management software is robust, user-friendly and versatile, ensuring your organisation has the ability to face the challenges and opportunities of the future.
Contact John O’Brien, CEO at Four Business Solutions – global business consultants and software integrators specialising in business process improvement.
