Contracts Vocab 2

Front 1

Certainty

Back 1

A certainty is something not doubted, especially on the basis of objective evidence.

Front 2

Collateral

Back 2

Collateral is property that is pledged as security against a debt.

Front 3

Consideration

Back 3

Consideration is something (such as an act, a forbearance, or a return promise) bargained for and received by a promisor from a promisee which motivates a person to do something

Front 4

Constructive Trust

Back 4

A Constructive Trust is an equitable remedy that a court imposes against one who has obtained property by wrongdoing, to prevent unjust enrichment. It creates no fiduciary relationship and is not really a trust

Front 5

Equivocation

Back 5

Equivocation is the use of language to avoid committing oneself to what one says, often with the intent to deceive

Front 6

Essay (2 definitions)

Back 6

Essay, as a verb, means to make an often tentative or experimental effort to perform. As a noun it refers to the effort

Front 7

Ethics

Back 7

Ethics is the discipline dealing with what is good and bad and with moral duty and obligation. It is also the system of moral values, the principles of conduct governing an individual or a group.

Front 8

Expectation damages

Back 8

Expectation Damages are money recoverable for breach of contract and designed to put the injured party in the position he or she would have been in had the contract been completed.

Front 9

Fair representation

Back 9

Fair Representation is the duty of a labor union to advocate for and defend the interests of its members in negotiating collective bargaining agreements and in lodging grievances

Front 10

Foreseeability

Back 10

Forseeability is the quality of being reasonably anticipatable

Front 11

Franchising

Back 11

Franchising is a method of structuring a productive relationship between two parties in which both contribute to the production or distribution of the product or service

Front 12

Gratuity

Back 12

A Gratuity is a gift, something given voluntarily and beyond obligation, usually in return for or in anticipation of some service.

Front 13

Illusory promise doctrine

Back 13

The Illusory Promise Doctrine states that words of promise which by their terms make performance entirely optional with the “promisor” do not constitute a promise.

Front 14

Infancy doctrine

Back 14

The Infancy Doctrine provides that a contract of a minor for items which are not necessities is void or voidable at the minor’s option. As a general rule a minor who disaffirms a contract is entitled to recover all consideration he has conferred incident to the transaction. In return, the minor is expected to restore as much of the consideration as, at the time of disaffirmance, remains in the minor’s possession, if any.

Front 15

Lacuna

Back 15

A Lacuna is a blank space or missing part, i.e. a gap

Front 16

Material benefit rule

Back 16

The Material Benefit Rule is a doctrine that permits enforcement of a promise without present consideration where the promise is made in recognition of a benefit previously conferred on the promisor by the promisee, and enforcement is needed to prevent injustice.

Front 17

Doctrine of mental incapacity

Back 17

The Doctrine of Mental Incapacity provides that a contract entered by a person who is unable to understand the nature of the contract and its obligation is voidable by that person

Front 18

Mistake

Back 18

A Mistake is a belief that is not in accord with the facts

Front 19

Doctrine of misunderstanding

Back 19

The Doctrine of Misunderstanding is that there is no manifestation of mutual assent to an exchange if the parties attach materially different meanings to their manifestations and neither party knows or has reason to know the meaning attached by the other party

Front 20

Doctrine of moral consideration

Back 20

The Doctrine of Moral Consideration provides that a new promise to pay for a past debt is enforceable, even though the new promise is not supported by bargained for consideration

Front 21

Moral obligation

Back 21

A Moral Obligation is a duty that is based only on one’s conscience and that is not legally enforceable. In contract law, moral obligation may support a promise in the absence of traditional consideration, only if the promisor has previously received some actual benefit from the promisee

Front 22

Nudum pactum

Back 22

Nadum Pactum is a Latin term for an informal agreement that is not legally enforceable, because it does not fall within the specific classes of agreements that can support a legal action. It is an agreement that cannot be enforced because it is not supported by consideration.

Front 23

Pecuniary

Back 23

Pecuniary means monetary.

Front 24

Pre-existing legal duty doctrine

Back 24

The Pre-existing Legal Duty Doctrine states that the performance of a legal duty owed to a promisor which is neither doubtful nor the subject of honest dispute is not consideration.

Front 25

Privity

Back 25

Privity is the connection or relationship between two parties, each having a legally recognized interest in the same subject matter. In contracts law, it refers to a mutuality of interest.

Front 26

Promise made in recognition of a past benefit

Back 26

A Promise Made in Recognition of a Past Benefit is a promise based on past consideration without a new consideration, but is nonetheless enforceable to the extent necessary to prevent injustice if the past consideration materially benefitted the promisor.

Front 27

Public policy

Back 27

Public Policy, broadly, is the principles and standards regarded by the legislature or by the courts as being of fundamental concern to the state and the whole of society. More narrowly, public policy is the principle that a person should not be allowed to do anything that would tend to injure the public at large.

Front 28

Quid pro quo

Back 28

Quid Pro Quo is Latin for “something for something.” It means an action or thing that is exchanged for an action or thing of more or less value

Front 29

Relational contracts

Back 29

Relational Contracts do not settle all important terms, but establish a framework within which the parties compose (and hopefully, resolve) their disputes). Collective bargaining agreements are relational contracts

Front 30

Rescission

Back 30

Rescission is the unilateral unmaking of a contract for a legally sufficient reason, such as the other party’s material breach, or a judgment voiding the contract. It is generally available as a remedy or defense for a non-defaulting party and is accompanied by restitution of any partial performance, thus restoring the parties to their pre-contractual positions

Front 31

Surrogate-parenting agreement

Back 31

A Surrogate-Parenting Agreement is a contract between a woman and, typically, an infertile couple under which the woman provides her uterus to carry an embryo throughout pregnancy; especially, an agreement between a person (the intentional parent) and a woman (the surrogate mother) providing that the surrogate mother will (1) bear a child for the intentional parent, and (2) relinquish any and all rights to the child.

Front 32

Unconscionable

Back 32

Unconscionable is an adjective, which describes conduct that lacks conscience or affronts the sense of justice, decency, or reasonableness.