Acceptance Under Contract Law Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Acceptance Under Contract Law - Essay Example Consideration is an added benefit that is bargained for and may also include a promise to compromise upon a dispute, but the important factor is that it must be a new obligation, over and above what has already been agreed to in the original contract. The principle of consideration determines whether an oral promise may be enforceable since an implicit contract is formed if the person making the promise is receiving something in return – some consideration [www.abanet.org, pp 22]. This involves the exchange of â€Å"something of value† or the promise to do something in future.[www.bplans.co.uk, 2003]. The basic premise of a contract is the concept of Offer and Acceptance. When one party makes an offer and another party accepts it – either orally or in writing – then a contract is said to exist [www.bplans.co.uk, 2003]. In order for a contract to be valid, both the parties need to exchange something of value. If one party promises orally to give something to the other but does not follow through with it, his promise is not enforceable, unless the other party agreed to do something in return for the promised gift, in which case a contract does exist and may be enforceable. Once an agreement has been made and a contract entered into, any agreement to vary the contract is likely to be based upon some consideration, especially if the pacts is increased under the doctrine of economic duress. The doctrine of consideration has however been argued as being too â€Å"blunt an instrument† since its â€Å"reasoning was such that it could make a promise invalid even thoug h no pressure had been exerted by the promisee at all.† [Trietel, 2002, pp 14]. In this connection, there is already in existence a written contract between the two parties, which lays out the terms of payment for services rendered, ie, three installment payments of 10,000 pounds each to be made by Roger.