美国纽约州律师资格考试复习笔记 合同法.docx

美国纽约州律师资格考试复习笔记 合同法.docx

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美国纽约州律师资格考试复习笔记合同法

ContractsOutline

KeyIssue#1:

ApplicableLaw

∙MBEtests2kindsofKlaw:

thecommonlaw&Art2ofUCC.

oUCCArt2:

appliestoallsaleofgoodsregardlessofhowsmallthepriceandwhothepeopleare（canbeconsumers,merchants…etc）.

▪Realestateisnotgoods,CLapplies.

▪Serviceisnotasaleofgoods,CLapplies.

▪Loansandothercreditarrangementsnotsaleofgoods,CLapplies.

▪InmixedKs（wheresaleofgoodsandnonsaleofgoodsareinvolved）,ifthesaleofgoodselementismoreimportant,thenUCC2applies;ifKisprimarilyaboutservices,thenapplyCL.Exception:

∙IfKitselfexpresslydividespayment,theapplyUCCtosaleofgoodspartandcommonlawtotherest.

∙NYpartofthebartests3bodiesoflaw1）CLwithNYvariations2）Art2forsaleofgoods3）Art2AofUCCforleasesofgoods.

oLeaseofgoodsUCCArt2A:

▪leasinganairplaneUCCArt2Aapplies

▪Appliestoleaseofbusinessleaseorconsumerlease（leaseacarfromAvis）

▪BUTdoesn’tapplytoleasingabuilding（realpropertynotgoods）.

KeyIssue#2:

Contractformation

∙Terminologiesdefined:

oK:

alegallyenforceableagreement（noteveryAisaK）

（1）IsaKformed–offer/acceptance;

（2）whethertheAgreementislegallyenforceable（aretheredefenses?

）]

▪ExpressK:

createdbyparties’wordseitheroralorwritten

▪ImpliedK:

createdbyparties’conduct//属于implied-in-fact;判断标准是客观的，不论双方主观上是否有合意形成

oQuasiK:

anequitableremedyProtectsagainstunjustenrichment.（likelytobetestedonMBE）属于impliedinlaw

▪PcanrecoverfromquasiKthereasonablevalueofthebenefitconferred（notKprice）–willusuallynotbeasmuchasKprice,butnotmorethanthecontractprice.

oBilateralK:

offercanbeacceptedinanyreasonableway

oUnilateralK:

offercanonlybeacceptedbyperformance

▪Note:

AllKsarebilateralunlesstheoffersaysitcanONLYbeacceptedbyperformance.

oVoid,voidable,andunenforceablecontracts

▪Avoidcontractisonewithoutanylegaleffectfromthebeginning（e.g.,anagreementtocommitacrime）;

▪Avoidablecontractisonethatapartymayelecttoavoidorratify（e.g.,acontractbyaminor）;

▪Anunenforceablecontractisoneotherwisevalidbutforwhichsomedefenseexistsextraneoustoformation（e.g.,theS/F）

1STSTAGEOFTHEAGREEMENTPROCESS:

OFFER

公共要约只有行为人知道要约的前提下去完成任务才构成接受

两份内容相对一致的交叉要约并不构成合同

如果信息在传递中有错误，即按错误的生效，除非另一方知道或有理由知道该错误

A）Offer:

manifestationofanintentiontobebound,createdbywordsorconduct.Thebasictestiswhetherareasonablepersoninthepositionoftheoffereewouldbelievethathisorherassentcreatesacontract.（validoffer?

Lookatcontext&content）

▪Context:

adsareusuallyNOTanoffer（lookforthementionofnewspaper,onstorefront）

∙Adsarenotoffersb/cthereisnoquantitytermandanunlimited#ofpersonscanaccept.

∙Narrowexception:

whentheadsays“1bluedressjustlikeMonica’s,only$1!

Firstcome,firstserved.”Anofferb/citspecifiesthequantityandwhocanaccept.

▪Content:

vagueorambiguousterms,like“reasonable”or“fair”or“appropriate”=NOTanoffer

∙Sagreestosellcarforreasonableprice=NOOffer.

▪Factorstobeconsidered:

languagesused,surroundingcircumstances,priorrelationship,industrialcustom,degreeofdefiniteandcertainterms,andmethodofcommunication.

B）RequirementK:

Kwherequantitybesoldismeasuredbybuyer’srequirementsorneeds一个例外//UCC要求也只要求必须要有关于数量的条款//此种合同的数量取决于买家的善意需求//此种合同在assignment时也有特别规定，通常不能assign,因为会影响义务人的履约，但若收转让人保证其要求和转让人基本一致，即可转让。

▪LookoutforwordslikeALLitsrequirements,ONLY,SOLELY（commitmenttoexclusivity=offertoenterintorequirementsK）.

∙Anyincreaseinbuyer’srequirementhastobeinlinewiththebuyer’spriordemands–ruleofthumb10%

oAnexcessiveincreasewillbereducedbythecourt;

oDecreasewillnotbetestedbecauselawisuncertain.

C）Openpriceterm（missingpriceterm）（commonlawdiffersfromArt2）

▪CommonLaw（e.g.,intheinstanceofsellingland）:

thereisNOofferunlessthewritingbothdescribesthepropertyandstatestheprice.//但若是服务合同，没有价格也可能成立合同

▪Art2:

thereisofferifpartiessointend,it’sstillagoodoffereventhoughitdoesn’tstateprice可以用某种方式确定

∙Remember:

vaguepricetermisNOofferunderbothCL&Art2

2NDSTAGEOFAGREEMENTPROCESS:

TERMINATIONOFOFFER

oEffect:

anoffercan’tbeacceptedifithasbeenterminated

Fourwaysoftermination:

1）LapseofTime:

▪Ifofferstatesthelastdateofacceptance,can’tacceptafterthatdate.

▪Evenifnodeadlineisstated,offersdon’tlastforever.Offerslapseafterareasonabletime（factspecificfinding,ruleofthumb30days）.

2）Offeror’sRevocation:

a）Revocationmaybedirectorindirect:

∙Directrevocation:

astatementbytheofferortotheoffereeindicatingunambiguouslythattheofferorhaschangedhermind（anystatementindicatingthisintentionwilldo）

∙Indirectrevocation:

conductbyofferorunambiguouslyindicatingunwillingnessorinabilitytocontractwithoffereeandtheoffereeisawareoftheconduct.

oThemerefactthattherearesimilarofferstootherpeopledoesnotrevokeaprioroffer.

b）Revocationofanofferisonlyeffectiveifitisreceivedbeforeacceptance

oRevocationiseffectiveonthedayofreceipt.

oIfoffereeacceptsbeforeherreceiptofmyrevocationthentoolatetorevokeanAisformed!

[MailboxruleonlyappliestoACCEPTANCE.

c）Generally,offerorcanrevokeatanytimebeforeacceptance,unlessthefollowingFOURsituationsoccur,thentheoffercan’tberevoked:

受要约人如果先拒绝了，如果还在期限内，受要约人仍然可以接受，只要要约人并没有对拒绝产生信赖。

oOption:

apromisetokeeptheofferopenthatisPAIDfor（consideration）:

considerationyouhavebargainedawayyourrighttorevokegeneral-contractor和sub-contractor之间的关系就是等于形成了一个unilateraloptioncontract.

oDetrimentalreliancethatisreasonable&foreseeable（PromissoryEstoppel）此种信赖必须是承诺人所能预期，若承诺人事先表示明确反对，则不构成。

∙ifmyrelianceisbothreasonableandforeseeable.

oPartperformanceofanoffertoenteraUnilateralK（BystartingperformanceisacceptanceofbilateralK）只适用单方合同

∙Ex:

ifofferstatesacceptanceonlybyperformance,andPstartsperforming:

thisisunilateralK,onceperformancebegins,Ocannolongerrevoke!

NYDistinction:

offercanberevokeduntilperformanceiscompleted.

∙BUTmerepreparationforperformanceisNOTenoughtotriggerunilateralpartperformancerule

∙However,preparationcanbereasonable,foreseeablereliancethatmakestheofferirrevocable.

oFirmofferruleunderArt2:

RULE:

asigned,writtenpromisebyamerchantpromisingtokeepanofferopenforaperiodoftime发出要约者必须是商人！

！

;

∙Noconsiderationisrequiredwritingtakesplaceofconsideration.

∙Afirmofferhasa3monthscapifofferisopenforlongerthan3months,itwillbescaledbackto3months.[[NOTE:

ifyouhaveanoption,youdon’tneedafirmoffer.Optionisbetterb/cyouarenotrestrictedbydurationrequirement.]

∙Ifnotimeisstated,anofferwillbeopenforareasonabletimeNOTtoexceed3months.

∙Ifthereisawrittenopenofferinanon-saleofgoodssituation

oMBE:

Scanrevokebeforeacceptance

oNYDistinction:

ifofferisinwriting,signedbytheofferorandstatesthatofferisirrevocable,thentheofferisnotrevocableduringthetimestatedorforareasonabletime,eveniftheofferisnotsupportedbyconsideration（firmofferruleexpanded）.

3）Offeree’sRejection:

THREEscenarios

▪Counteroffer:

operatesasarejection,butbargainingdoesnot.

∙Butiftheoffereeasksaquestion,“willyoutake$49k?

”isconsideredmerebargainingnotarejection.

▪Conditionalacceptance:

operatesasarejection&terminationofanoffer

∙ifwordssuchas“if,”“providedthat,”“solongas,”“ontheconditionthat”areusedinacceptance=rejection.Itoperatesthesamewayasacounteroffer:

itterminatestheofferandbecomesanewoffer.即使在商人间亦是如此，如果商人在额外条款边加盖了印章“rubberstamp"就是指acceptupon.

▪AnacceptancecontaininganADDITIONALorDIFFERENTtermsoperatesasarejectionunderCommonLaw,butnotUCC2.

∙Art2:

nomirrorimagerule;additionaltermsdon’tkilloffer

▪Buttheofferee’sadditionaltermsrarelygetintotheK,theyonlybecomepartofKif:

这些只影响不同的条款是否属于合同，而不影响合同是否成立此条只适用于商人

o

1）botharemerchants

2）theofferdoesnotexplicitlylimitsacceptancetothetermsoftheoffer;

3）theadditionaltermisnotamaterialchange;AND

∙Ex:

disclaimsallwarranties=materialchange（unlessintheindustryisnotmaterial）

∙Ex:

changetimeofdelivery=NOTmaterialchange

4）offerordoesnotobjectwithinareasonabletime.

oTherefore,ifeitherpartyisanon-merchant,theadditionaltermismerelyaproposalthatistobeseparatelyacceptedorrejected（buttheoriginalisnotkilled）.

如果是非商人，也不影响合同的成立，只是不包括不同的条款

oIftheoriginaloffercontainsanobjectiontoanyadditionalorinconsistentterms,andtheofferee’sresponseproposesnewtermsandstatesthattheresponseisacounteroffersubjecttoexpressacceptancebytheoriginalofferor,nocontractarisesuntilperformancebegins.ThetermswillincludewhattheyagreeinwritingandthosesupplementedbyUCC.

4）Terminationbyoperationoflaw:

▪Death/insanityofeitherpartybeforeacceptance:

∙Deathterminatesoffereveniftheotherpartydoesn’tknowofthedeath.

∙Exception:

适用于所有不可撤销的要约

▪Superveningillegality

▪Destructionoftheproposedcontract’ssubjectmatter

3RDOFTHEAGREEMENTPROCESS:

ACCEPTANCE

1）Whocanaccept?

▪Generally,anoffercanbeacceptedby（i）apersonwhoknowsabouttheoffer;and（ii）whoisthepersontowhomitwasmade.Offerscannotbeassigned,optionscanbeassignedunlesstheoptionsaysno.

2）Offercan（butusuallydoesnot）controlthemannerof