Fun Contract Cases for Law Professors. How to Form a Contract!
I always enjoy reading the Contracts Professor Blog; probably since contracts is one of my favorite subjects. Most business disputes involve, in some way, a contract. And, most non-lawyers don't have a very good concept of what a contract is and what it takes to form a contract.
This week the Contracts Professor discusses a wonderful case that originated here in Minnesota. Jeremy Telman bemoans the fact that Lefkowitz v. Great Minneapolis Surplus Store is no longer in the casebooks, and I understand why. When I taught business law at a local university I used the case, and it demonstrates some very basic principles of contract formation. What is an offer, and what constitutes an acceptance.
Additionally, the case also holds that you can't refuse to perform a contract on the basis that you had secret qualifications for the acceptance. (In this case the store took the position that you had to be a woman to accept.) This is a good case to help understand how contracts are formed; the case is also unusual in that in involves an advertisement, which does not usually constitute an offer to sell.
