Please, respond to the attached two classmate main posts. (Please, the responses need to be a discussion, not an evaluation. You can agree with them and add/comment about their response.)
Thank you
Instructions for the two classmate responses (around 125 words each) Please, respond to the below two classmate main posts. (Please, the responses need to be a discussion, not an evaluation. You can agree with them and add/comment about their response.) Thank you Classmate post #1: Kayla Abel In order for a contract to be valid and enforceable, the following elements must be considered or met; one, agreement, two, consideration, three, contractual capacity, four, legality (Clarkson, Miller, & Cross, 2018). Generally, a contract is made between two parties. When the two parties come into an agreement and form a contract, consideration is needed. It is an essential element when forming a contract. It benefits both parties. It guarantees that both parties are getting what they are wanting and protects them from facing lawsuits from one another. A contract without consideration has no value. Consideration can be in form of money, promise, service, or property. Per our textbook, consideration is the value given in return for a promise or in return for a performance. Consideration is broken down into two elements; one, legally sufficient value must be given in exchange for the promise, two, there must be bargained-for exchange (Clarkson, Miller, & Cross, 2018). In some cases, I disagree with the statement that courts should not be able to decide on the adequacy of consideration, especially when agreements/contracts lack consideration. For an example, Company XY hires Ajax Contractors to construct a seven-story office building. After three months of working, Ajax Contractors demands an extra $75,000 on its contract; if not paid, Ajax Contractors will stop working. This is not supported by legally sufficient consideration. It cannot serve as a consideration for a second contract. Ajax Contractors already had a preexisting contractual duty to complete the building. Company XY paid the contractor for the demanded amount to finish the work. Per their contract, Company XY was not required to pay the contractor an additional amount (Clarkson, Miller, & Cross, 2018). Instead, Company XY could've sued Ajax Contractors for breach of contract. Overall, this contract lacked consideration and Ajax Contractors breached the contract. By definition, breach of contract occurs when an agreement made between parties is not honored by one of the parties based on the terms of their agreement. Therefore, this is when I believe the court should get involved and decide on the adequacy of consideration. References Clarkson, K. W., Miller, R. L., & Cross, F. B. (2018). Business Law: Text and Cases (14th ed ). Boston, MA. Cengage Learning. Classmate post # 2: Dayana Alvarez Consideration is achieved when something of legally sufficient value is given in exchange for a promise and there must be a bargained-for exchange (Clarkson, Miller & Cross, 2018). Consideration will vary depending on the type of contract. In bilateral contracts, consideration is a promise in return of a promise. For example, when someone decides to go into a store and purchase goods, this person promises to pay for those goods and the store owner promises that it will deliver the goods to the seller. In unilateral contracts, consideration involves a promise in return for action. For example, when parents promise their teenager that they will pay them a certain amount of money per day or per hour for the time they spend applying for college scholarships during summer. Adequacy of consideration “involves how much consideration is given” (Clarkson, Miller & Cross, 2018). In other words, adequacy of consideration is based on the fairness of the bargain or promise. Generally, “courts will not question the adequacy of consideration based solely on the comparative value of the things exchanged” (Clarkson, Miller & Cross, 2018). Additionally, to determine whether consideration really exists in a case does not depend on the evaluation of the values of the exchanges because in many cases, “the exchange of promises and potential benefits are deemed to be sufficient consideration” (Clarkson, Miller & Cross, 2018). I understand that the purpose of courts to not meddle in the adequacy of consideration is to give individuals free will. Under the doctrine of freedom of contract, courts will leave it up to the parties involved to decide the value of the item or action in question and parties are normally free to bargain how they see fit. However, I do not agree with the statement that courts should not be able to decide on the adequacy of consideration. I believe it must be on a case by case scenario whether courts should be involved in deciding on the adequacy of consideration. If there is a large discrepancy in the value of the consideration exchanged, it may raise a question for a court to interfere in the bargain since these types of situations are an indication of possible frauds, duress, or undue influence (Clarkson, Miller & Cross, 2018). In other words, the court will not decide if the value of an exchange is fair or not when the involved parties have agreed to the terms of the contract. However, the court will evaluate and determine the adequacy of consideration if one of the parties deceived the other during the exchange. References Clarkson, K., Miller, R. L., & Cross, F. B. Business Law Text and Cases. An Accelerated Course. Boston, MA: Cengage Learning.