Contract Basics

Passive Agreement to Contract

by Graham Martin on January 3, 2012 · 0 comments

made up face

Most contracts involve a signature of some sort—you have to sign your name or provide an electronic signature, provide a personal identification number, or click “Accept”. These are all purposeful acts and constitute active agreement to a contract. But it’s also possible to passively agree to a contract, for which you don’t really need to do anything purposeful.

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Why People Hate Contracts…and How to Fix Them

November 1, 2011

You probably already know why people hate contracts, but a colleague of mine dropped something on my desk this morning and I couldn’t help but share it with my adoring fan.

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Lisa Kudrow on Contract Modification…Sorta

October 17, 2011
flash bulb and filter

As long as all parties to a contract agree, a contract can be modified in almost any way. But there are important considerations to make along the way and requirements that need to be met to ensure that the modification is both valid and enforceable. Read on to learn about everyday contract modifications and how to ensure their strength.

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David Cassidy, Contracts, Statutes of Limitations, and Unconscionability: A Tale of Woe in One Act

October 11, 2011
the milky way

On October 5, 2011, David Cassidy sued Sony (among others) for his share of 40 years of Profits from the Partridge Family. The suit alleges that Sony and the other defendants “have been perpetrating a scam,” having only been paid approximately $5,000 for royalties on Partridge Family merchandise. What can this situation teach us about Statutes of Limitations and Unconscionability?

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The $100,000 Importance of Understanding Contracts

October 5, 2011
reward poster

In 2010, a woman named Ronni Chasen was terribly murdered in Palm Springs, California. In response to her killing, Harold Matzner offered a $100,000 reward for information “leading to the arrest and conviction of the person responsible for the murder.” But when someone provided a tip to the police confirming that one of their suspects was the murderer, the originator of the tip didn’t receive the money. Why?

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Reasonable Reliance

May 17, 2011
Nissan Maxima

Parties to contracts rely on each other when they form an agreement. Look at this real-life example of how reasonable reliance works.

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R, S, T, L, N & E: Commonalities in Contracts

February 11, 2011
red fractal

You can pretty much assume that you will find most (or all) of the following provisions in any commercial or adhesion contract you encounter, and can instead focus your attention on the clauses that are unique to the contract. Knowing what these common provisions are should help you be more aware of what happens each time you sign a contract, and allow you to more effectively skim those blasted contract monstrosities.

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Impossible and Illegal Contracts

November 17, 2010

For all the time I spend on this site talking about being bound to a contract once it is signed, there are some times that even though you have signed a contract, you are not bound to it. The two I am going to go through today are Impossibility and Illegality.

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