HFT 3603 Chapter 4-5

Chapter 4

三种合同：

Valid 有效合同 法律上可接受

Voidable Contract 可撤销合同 一方可选择不履行 (必须是有法律残疾legal disability的一方进行取消)在残疾期间和残疾消失后的合理时间内可用

Void Contract (Invalid Contract) 无效合同 在法庭上无法执行的

Element of contract 合同的特性：

1. Contractual Capacity 签署能力

minors未成年人(18)，mental incompetent精神上无能，intoxicated喝醉的人

2.Mutuality 相互性

the parties must have a “meeting of the minds”

They must agree on the terms in their contract;

Mutuality is established by an offer and an acceptance建立在offer和acceptance上的

Offer: a proposal to do or give something of value in exchange for something else；

Invitation to negotiate: It is just a preliminary discussion and cannot be accepted in a contractuallybinding manner；

3.Legality 合法性

4.Consideration 考虑

三个变量：tangible items，performance，forbearance禁止做合法的事

（禁止20岁以下的任何就不属于对价，法律不允许）

5.Proper form 正规的形式

必须书面：Contracts for the purchase and sale of real estate (land and buildings)买不动产；Contracts that cannot be completed within one year from when they are made合同一年内不能完成；Contracts to pay another’s debt if that person fails to pay偿还债务；Contracts for the sale of goods (moveable/tangible) in excess of $500超过500块的有形产品；

6. Genuine Assent  The parties must truly agree to the terms of the contract（双方必须真同意）

A unilateral mistake单边错误: not impact the validity of a contract

A mutual mistake双边错误: a meeting of the minds and render a contract unenforceable

7.Breach of contract 违约

Requirements for plaintiff to collect damages原告要求赔偿的条件

♠ Foreseeability: damages were foreseeable to the breaching party. 可预见

♠ Reasonable certainty: benefits were certain and the loss was a result of the breach of contract合理

♠ Duty to mitigate: plaintiff must prove that it attempted to reduce and lessen its loss. 原告履行了减少损失的义务

Chapter 5

Four elements to the tort of negligence构成过失的四个条件

1.Existence of a legal duty法律义务存在

2.Breach of that duty违反了义务

3.Injury to the plaintiff对原告造成了损失

4.Proximate cause (cause-and-effect relationship)近因

Refers to the direct and immediate cause; A chain of causation between defendant’s negligence and plaintiff’s injury

偏向原告的过失原则

1.Res Ipsa Loquitur（“The thing speaks for itself”）

the plaintiff has difficulty proving the necessary elements (breach the duty)；Free plaintiff from the burden of proving the breach of duty of defendant

1. Negligence Per Se Doctrine（本身过失原则）

Act that violates a law or ordinance to protect the safety of the public；Any act violating the law --- negligence (need not prove the breach of duty)

原告需证明：Existence of the law and ordinance法律条例存在; Defendant’s violation of it被告造成的; Injury有伤害; Proximate cause近因

3.Strict Liability严格责任

a person will be liable even though he/she violated no duty

4.Strict Products Liability严格产品责任

Imposes liability on the seller of a defective product without regard to negligence；The liability applies even if the seller did not know of the defect

5.Respondeat Superior雇主责任

Employers are liable for negligent acts of employees

Negligent employee must have been acting “within the scope of his employment” (doing his assigned tasks)过失员工必须是在工作范围

偏向被告的过失原则

1.Contributive Negligence 促成过失

If the plaintiff’s negligence contributed to the injury, cannot collect any damage from defendant.

2.Doctrine of Last Clear Chance最后明确原则

Plaintiffs can use the doctrine of last clearchance to support their cases需证明

Plaintiff is negligent；Defendant could have still avoided the accident by reasonable care in the final moments；As the defendant could have prevented the accident, plaintiff’s negligence is no longer the cause of the accident

3.Comparative Negligence比较过失

both a plaintiff and a defendant are at a fault, they should share the responsibility

4.Assumption of Risk风险承担

A plaintiff who knowingly and voluntarily engages in dangerous activity and if is injured as a result of that risk, the plaintiff cannot sue for damages suffered