1L - First Year Lesson Topics

There are three sets of defenses that might be used to avoid enforcement of a contract which is otherwise valid. The topic of this podcast is the basic concepts related to two of the assent related defenses, duress and undue influence. The defense of duress exists to protect against contracts that are obtained by some type of threat or coercion. The defense of undue influence exists for a more specialized role, to protect against assent obtained by unfair persuasion.

This podcast explains when a court will excuse satisfaction of a condition to avoid the harsh effects of forfeiture when a condition fails. It also looks at what happens when a court has determined that there is a condition and the failure of the condition might cause a hardship. This podcast is related to the discussion of conditions in two other podcasts: Express Conditions and Implied Conditions, and contrasts the court’s application of excuse of conditions with express conditions. The podcast includes an explanation of restitution as it relates to excuse of condition as well as a brief explanation of Clark v. West Publishing Company. The podcast concludes with an explanation of Restatement (Second) of Contracts § 229.

The topic of this podcast is federal jurisdiction in contracts cases, specifically how the case got to federal court, and what law the federal court will look to in deciding the case.

The topic of this podcast is when consequential damages can be recovered for breach of contract because they are foreseeable. The podcast examines the rules established in Hadley v. Baxendale to determine if a loss is foreseeable and therefore recoverable as a consequential damage, as well as some practical effects of those rules. It also looks at how Article 2 of the UCC handles disclaimers for liability for consequential damages. 

There are three sets of defenses that might be used to avoid enforcement of a contract which is otherwise valid: (i) capacity related defenses; (ii) assent related defenses; and (iii) public policy related defenses. The topic of this podcast is the basic concepts related to the assent related defenses of fraud and misrepresentation.

The topic of this podcast is the basic concept of good faith. Good faith, sometimes called the covenant of good faith and fair dealing, is an implied term in a party's obligation of performance in every contract. The podcast examines both the subjective and objective standards of good faith. It discusses the obligations of good faith under the common law - as expressed in Restatement (Second) of Contracts § 205 - and the Uniform Commercial Code § 1-304. It provides some history on the evolution of good faith in UCC Articles 1 and 2, and considers the variations on the definition of good faith adopted among the jurisdictions. Finally, the podcast covers the consequences of a breach of good faith. The cases of Reid v. Key Bank, Billman v. Hensel, and Neumiller Farms v. Cornett are discussed.

This podcast will explain when a court will supply a condition even where the parties have not expressly written one into the contract. It distinguishes between a promise and a condition under Restatement (Second) Contracts §§ 2 and 224. This podcast references two other podcasts: Express Conditions and the Excuse of Conditions that is used by courts to avoid harsh results of conditions. Additionally, this podcast provides hypotheticals that illustrate the relationship between implied conditions and the rule of constructive conditions of exchange.

The topic of this podcast is impossibility, impracticability and frustration. Ordinarily we expect the parties to perform their contracts under the principle of pacta sunt servanda, meaning promises are to be kept. Contract law, though, does provide excuse for non-performance (meaning a party is not in breach) in the event of certain contingencies the nonoccurrence of which are basic assumptions of a contract. This podcast covers the three distinct grounds for excuse provided by contract law: (i) impossibility; (ii) impracticability; and (iii) frustration of purpose.

The topic of this podcast is the basic concepts related to incapacity defenses to enforcement of a contract, which includes infancy, mental illness, and intoxication. The incapacity defenses seek to protect vulnerable people in society (children, those suffering from mental illness or intoxication) from exploitation by others in the contracting process.

The topic of this podcast is the basic concepts related to invitations to negotiate or preliminary negotiations and other types of communications that are not offers. In particular, we will look at the basic attributes of advertisements, price quotations, invitations to bid, and auction sales.

The topic of this podcast is the basic concepts related to communications in the contracting process governed by the Mailbox Rule. More particularly, we will look at the rules governing the effect of an offeree’s response by mail or an offeror’s attempt to revoke an offer using the mail.

This podcast explains how to determine if the offer is one that can be accepted by a return promise, a return promise or performance or whether a return performance is required. Sometimes you will hear reference to bilateral and unilateral contracts. The terms bilateral and unilateral do not relate to the number of parties to the contract. Instead, a bilateral contract is where there is a set of mutual promises made by both parties.