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Seminar 6 Problem Question Model Answer
Contract Law (LAWS10021)
University of Manchester
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Seminar 6: Model Answer
The next issue is whether Arnold’s response qualifies as an acceptance or whether it is a counter- offer. From the facts of the problem-question, it seems like Arnold wanted to accept the offer, however, before saying something which would qualify as an acceptance (define acceptance here with case law example), he said he ‘had hoped for £7200’. This might come across as a counter-offer as defined in (here, you can use any case which provides a definition or example of a counter-offer, eg. Hyde v Wrench and Stevenson, Jacque Co v McLean 1 ). If this is a counter-offer, then Bob is now in a position whether to accept it, reject it or meet it with another counter-offer. The important part of the rule on counter-offer is, as was held in Hyde 2 and Stevenson 3 cases, the counter offer always kills off the original offer. Therefore, if Arnold made a new offer by saying ‘I had hoped for £7200’, then it means that Bob’s original offer does not exist anymore. However, when Bob sent a text message to Arnold to confirm the offer, it can be argued that Bob’s offer still exists and this issue will be discussed later.
If Arnold never intended to make a counter offer and instead simply wanted to accept Bob’s offer, then it is evident that no contract exists between Arnold and Bob, as the telephone line goes dead before the acceptance is communicated to Bob (here, discuss briefly communication of acceptance with reference to case law). According to Entores v Miles, 4 if the line goes dead 5 before the acceptance was sent, then the sender would know that the offeror never received the acceptance, so he will need to ensure he calls back to communicate the acceptance properly (here, you can also find more cases on the issue). This provides that, according to the case law, it is highly unlikely that Arnold’s acceptance has been communicated to Bob.
When Bob sent a text message confirming his offer, it was misdirected and went to another number. The issue here is that Arnold might not know about the confirmation of the offer, therefore, it is important to consider whether the communication of offer has taken place. English law requires offer to be communicated to the offeree. 6 (if you have a case to support it, use it here). This means that Bob’s offer has not been communicated to Arnold. However, there is still a possibility that Bob’s initial offer has never been killed off by the counter offer as Arnold was in fact trying to accept the offer (you can discuss it further here but remember to stay on the topic).
The last issue is that Cynthia, Arnold’s friend, told Bob that Arnold had accepted the offer. In this set of facts, it can only be assumed that Arnold was trying to accept the initial offer as he had never received a text message with a confirmation. On the condition that Bob’s initial offer still stands, then the next issue to consider is whether communication of acceptance through a friend is enough to constitute a legally binding contract between Arnold and Bob. In Powell v Lee, it was suggested that “there must be a notice of acceptance from the contracting party in some way”. 7 This provides that unless Cynthia is an authorised agent or a contracting party, she cannot provide a valid communication of acceptance for a legally binding contract to be concluded between Bob and Arnold.
1 Whatever case you decided to use as an example/definition of a counter-offer, a citation of the case(s) should be included here. 2 Citation of the case 3 Citation of the case 4 Citation of the case 5 Please note that in this case, the court dealt with the telex machine. 6 O’Sullivan, J., The Law of Contract (8th edition, OUP 2018), p. 24. 7 Reference with the citation of the case and page number from there this quote came from.
Seminar 6 Problem Question Model Answer
Module: Contract Law (LAWS10021)
University: University of Manchester
