RI Bar Contracts 3 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: Which element distinguishes a bilateral contract from a unilateral contract?
- The number of parties involved
- Whether the offeree accepts by promise or by performance (Correct answer)
- Whether consideration must be monetary
- Whether the contract is written or oral
Correct answer: Whether the offeree accepts by promise or by performance
A bilateral contract is formed by an exchange of promises, while a unilateral contract is formed when the offeree accepts by completing the requested performance.
Question 2: Under the mailbox rule, acceptance of a contract offer is effective when:
- The offeror receives the acceptance
- The acceptance is properly dispatched (Correct answer)
- The offeree sends a written confirmation
- The offeror acknowledges receipt
Correct answer: The acceptance is properly dispatched
The mailbox rule provides that acceptance is effective upon proper dispatch, even before the offeror receives it.
Question 3: A seller ships non-conforming goods to a buyer with a note saying the shipment is offered as an accommodation. This is best characterized as:
- Acceptance and breach
- A counteroffer only (Correct answer)
- Rejection of the offer
- An accord and satisfaction
Correct answer: A counteroffer only
Under UCC § 2-206(1)(b), a shipment accompanied by a notice of accommodation is a counteroffer, not an acceptance and breach.
Question 4: Which common law doctrine allows a court to fill in missing essential terms based on the parties' reasonable expectations?
- The parol evidence rule
- Gap-filling (Correct answer)
- The statute of frauds
- Promissory estoppel
Correct answer: Gap-filling
Gap-filling allows courts (and the UCC) to supply reasonable terms for matters the parties left open, preserving the contract.
Question 5: An employee's promise to remain employed for one additional year in exchange for an employer's promise of a bonus is supported by consideration because:
- The employee had no prior legal duty to remain (Correct answer)
- Continued employment is always good consideration
- The bonus exceeds minimum wage requirements
- The promise is in writing
Correct answer: The employee had no prior legal duty to remain
Because the employee had no existing legal duty to stay, the promise to remain is new consideration supporting the bonus promise.
Question 6: The doctrine of impossibility of performance excuses a contractual duty when performance becomes impossible due to:
- An event whose non-occurrence was a basic assumption of the contract (Correct answer)
- The promisor's financial hardship
- Rising costs making performance unprofitable
- A unilateral mistake by one party
Correct answer: An event whose non-occurrence was a basic assumption of the contract
True impossibility (and the related impracticability doctrine) requires that an unforeseen event, whose non-occurrence was a basic assumption, makes performance objectively impossible or extremely impractical.
Question 7: Which of the following is NOT a required element for formation of a valid contract?
- Offer
- Acceptance
- Consideration
- Written memorialization (Correct answer)
Correct answer: Written memorialization
Most contracts do not require written form; offer, acceptance, and consideration are the essential elements, with writing required only for certain contracts under the Statute of Frauds.
RI Bar Contracts 3
Which element distinguishes a bilateral contract from a unilateral contract?