MT Bar Contracts 1 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: Under Montana contract law, which element is NOT required for a valid contract?
- Offer
- Acceptance
- Consideration
- Written form (Correct answer)
Correct answer: Written form
Montana follows the common law rule that most contracts do not require a writing unless they fall within the Statute of Frauds.
Question 2: Under Montana's Statute of Frauds, which contract MUST be in writing?
- A contract for the sale of goods over $500
- A contract to be performed within one year
- A contract for the sale of land
- All of the above (Correct answer)
Correct answer: All of the above
Montana's Statute of Frauds (MCA § 28-2-903) requires writings for land sales, contracts not performable within one year, and UCC goods over $500.
Question 3: In Montana, a contract formed under duress is:
- Void ab initio
- Voidable at the option of the aggrieved party (Correct answer)
- Enforceable if ratified by both parties
- Valid unless economic duress is proven
Correct answer: Voidable at the option of the aggrieved party
Under MCA § 28-2-402, a contract formed under duress is voidable, not void, at the election of the coerced party.
Question 4: A Montana court will most likely enforce a liquidated damages clause when:
- Actual damages are easily calculable
- The amount is a reasonable forecast of actual harm (Correct answer)
- The clause penalizes breach to deter the other party
- The breaching party agreed to it voluntarily
Correct answer: The amount is a reasonable forecast of actual harm
Montana courts enforce liquidated damages clauses only when actual damages were difficult to estimate and the amount is a reasonable pre-estimate of harm, not a penalty.
Question 5: Under Montana law, which doctrine allows a court to refuse enforcement of an unconscionable contract?
- Frustration of purpose
- Impossibility
- Unconscionability under MCA § 30-2-302 (Correct answer)
- Promissory estoppel
Correct answer: Unconscionability under MCA § 30-2-302
MCA § 30-2-302 (Montana UCC) gives courts power to refuse enforcement, limit application, or excise unconscionable clauses from contracts.
Question 6: When a Montana offeree sends an acceptance by mail after the offeror has already mailed a revocation, the contract is formed:
- When the revocation is received by the offeree
- When the acceptance is deposited in the mail (Correct answer)
- When the offeror receives the acceptance
- No contract is formed because the offer was revoked
Correct answer: When the acceptance is deposited in the mail
Under the mailbox rule applied in Montana, an acceptance is effective upon dispatch, so a contract is formed when the acceptance is mailed, even if a revocation is already in transit.
MT Bar Contracts 1
Under Montana contract law, which element is NOT required for a valid contract?