Contracts 101

A binding contract consists of three elements:

1)  Offer:  “You want to buy my car for $1,000?”

2)  Acceptance:  “Deal.”

3)  Consideration:  The What For What.  A car and $1,000.

If you contract with another party, various legal means exist to invalidate the contract if one party is unhappy with the deal.  You try to flatten one of the three tires so the tricycle won’t move.

I won’t bore you with those gory details–just remember to contact a good attorney before rather than after you have a problem.

I once sued a little old lady.  (I’m a jerk.)  She wouldn’t pay my guy after he completed a home improvement project.  At trial, she was a pro se litigant and represented herself.  My guy testified that the job was done, done correctly, and he wanted his money.  I asked her if the signature on the written contract was hers.  Check.

She then proceeded to tell the judge that she could’ve paid less with another contractor.  Huh?

My boss, who was monitoring me because I had little trial experience, leaned over and whispered, “You do know this is over, right?  Unless you screw it up ….”

The judge berated her to the point of tears for “wasting my time, the court’s time, and the Plaintiff’s time”.

The next day I got her check and a thank you note with “Thank you for treating me kindly.  You have renewed my faith in lawyers.”  Huh II?

Those kind of notes keep me coming back for more.

Here’s a little old lady.  Most of you have seen this already, but it’s still funny.

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