Question

Mary lost her backpack. She posted a note at the entrance to the bookstore saying: “Reward: $100 to anyone returning my back pack with all of the contents.” Issac saw the note, found the back pack, called Mary, and met her to return it. All textbooks were there except the ever popular and coveted “Law and Society” textbook along with the even more highly coveted copies of the flashy and interesting class PowerPoints from Prof. Bastian’s class. Mary refused to pay the $100. (1)What kind of contract is Isaac trying to enforce when he sues Mary in Small Claims Court? (2) Will Isaac recover for breach of the contract you identified above? (3) If you believe that Isaac will not succeed for breach of contract, is there any theory available to him to recover something?

Answer 1

1. before going to this case study, let us see what type of elements a contract must contain before enforcement:

an offer which shows the specific details about what will be provided

acceptance, which other party show interest regarding the offer.

consideration. a prize or money which is involved between the party.

the intent of both the party to carry out the promise which is made by the offerer.

nowhere the "ORAL CONTRACT" is made by mary to any party about the backpack return and in return of it, 100 dollars is offered. so Isaac is trying to enforce the oral contract over Mary while small claims court. as all the above condition is met. as Isaac have to return the backpack but some content is missing, still some is available. so mary cant denies the fact she made an oral contract with the founder of the backpack.

2. nowhere as mary made an oral contract and Isaac found the backpack with some missing element so she needs to provide some lump sum money in return for sure. here in the contract, she didn't mention that a specific material has to be their and even she didn't mention in the oral contract that if that item is not present then, the reward is not provided. so Isaac needs to provide some compensation reward.

3. yes there is a theory, firstly Isaac didn't know the specific material important so Isaac has no clue that, if that material is not present the reward is not provided. secondly, Mary has not mentioned the specific material importance in oral contract, hence the other party can't even get to know the full information regarding the offer breach. at least half reward money has to be provided to Isaac as he returns the backpack to mary on time.