Needing someone to read over this and provide advice/assistance. It's a 1500-1800 word requirement but so far only about 1000, can anyone provide feedback?

__________________________________________________________________________________ BULAW 1502: Fundamentals of Law Assignment Topic Due Date: Friday, noon, of week 9 Semester 2 2017 Do both Parts Part A (worth 20 marks) On 1 March, Ben, a science lecturer at a local university (NWK), sent a letter by post to Ian, a local astronomy expert, inviting Ian to speak to Ben's class. The letter said: \"I will pay you $1,000 to speak to my class on 1 June. Please respond to me by 1 May if you accept.\" The next day, on 2 April, Ian became aware of a better speaking opportunity at a local business seminar tentatively scheduled for 1 June. He immediately sent the following email to Ben: \"I would have enjoyed speaking to your class on 1 June. However, I'm likely to have another commitment on that day, so it is likely that I will not be available. I will let you know if things change. Thank you.\" Ben received the email immediately and read it. Later that day, Ben identified another potential speaker, Sharon, who was listed on the webpage of another university nearby (SWK) as a staff member with expertise in astronomy. He clicked on her email address and sent her a message in which he offered Sharon $1,000 to speak to his class. Sharon accepted by email the next day. Sharon did not realise the staff list had her listed as having astronomy expertise; she was actually an expert in astrology. Ben expected an astronomy lecture, but Sharon incorrectly believed the desired topic was astrology. Ian was not selected to talk to the people at the business seminar. He sent an email to Ben in which he accepted Ben's invitation, but as it went to Ben's spam folder, Ben did not see it. On 1 June, both Ian and Sharon showed up to speak to Ben's class. Ben told Ian that he was not needed. Ian angrily told Ben that he would sue for breach of contract. After Ian left, Sharon began setting up her astrology charts and announced that she would provide free fortune telling after her lecture. Ben realized that Sharon was not an astronomy expert and told her he would not pay her for an astrology lecture. Sharon told Ben, \"I'm going to sue you for my money.\" Ben responded, \"You're not an astronomy expert as I thought and, besides, our deal wasn't in writing.\" Required: 1. Ian brings a claim for breach of contract against Ben. Discuss whether Ian and Ben formed an enforceable contract and whether Ian is likely to succeed with his claim. (10 marks) 2. Sharon brings a claim for breach of contract against Ben. Discuss whether Ben has any defences to the claim and whether Sharon is likely to succeed with her claim. (10 marks) Question 1: Case Facts: The case facts are that Ben sent an email to Ian offering him to speak at his class. Ian replied via email revoking the offer, which Ben received and sorted out alternative arrangements. Issue 1: Was there a valid contract? Offer and acceptance? A contract is a legally binding agreement between two or more contracting parties which gives rise to obligations which are enforceable or recognised by law (Schmitthof & Sarre, 1977, p.8). An offer is an expression or communication to contract on certain terms with the intention that a binding agreement will exist (Clarke, 2012 np.) Ben, the offeror, made an offer to Ian, Ian revoked the offer and therefore did not accept. The method of acceptance conformed with the offeror's requirements, making Ben's offer void. Ben then sought alternative arrangements for a guest speaker. As previously stated the offer must be accepted or revoked to form a binding contract. Ian emailed Ben and revoked the offer. According to section 13 of The Electronic Transactions (Victoria) Act 2000, emails as a form of acceptance are deemed communicated when the email is sent. Therefore no binding contract had been made. Issue 2: Was there a breach of contract? A contract can only become binding when there is an offer and an unqualified acceptance by the other party to the contract. The offeree has to accept within stipulated timeframes by the offeror or the offer is revoked. A breach of contract can be established by proof that the promisor failed to perform a contractual obligation within the time stipulated for performance of the obligation. Alternatively, the promisee must prove an anticipatory breach by the promisor. (Carter, 2011 p.3). The time frame for making an acceptance had lapsed, while revocation of the acceptance had been made. Therefore according to the facts given, Ian is not likely to succeed in his claim, as he had communicated his desire to reject the offer made by Ben. There was consequently no binding contract as Ben made no unqualified and absolute acceptance of the contract made by Ben. In effect, Ian is not likely to succeed in his claim for the enforcement of the contract since there is evidence of the email which he sent expressing his revocation of the acceptance earlier made to Ben. There was therefore no binding contract between the two parties. Question 2: Case facts are Ben sent an email to Sharon offering her to speak at his class. Sharon replied via email accepting the offer the next day, which Ben received. On the day of Sharon's guest speaking appearance, Ben didn't realise that Sharon was an astrologer and not an astronomer and refused to pay her claiming there was no contract as it was not in writing. Issue 1: Was there a valid contract with Sharon? Offer and acceptance? As discussed with the case with Ben and Ian, an offer is an expression of readiness to contract on the terms defined by the offer, whereby if the terms are accepted, they will give rise to a binding contract (Trietel, 1975 p.8). When an offer has been made, a contract binding the parties will result when the offeree has clearly accepted the offer (Carter, 2013 p.56). Ben has made his offer to which Sharon replied via email accepting, which is a valid acceptance to a binding contract as per section 13 of The Electronic Transactions (Victoria) Act 2000. As shown in the case of Solle v Butcher [1950] 1 K.B 267, once offer and acceptance has made the contract binding, each party is bound by the contract as they had intended to agree. From the facts provided, Sharon accepted Ben's offer with the intention to speak at his class as per the offer for payment. Therefore means a valid offer and valid acceptance making the contract binding, evidenced by email. Issue 2: Was there a breach of contract? As previously discussed, a contract can only become binding once offer and acceptance has been acknowledged by both parties. Ben did not stipulate specifics in his offer noting he required an Astronomer to speak at his class. Sharon is likely to succeed with her claim of breach of contract as the contract became binding upon email of offer and email of acceptance. These emails provide sufficient evidence of both parties entering a binding contract. Part B (worth 10 marks) Gordon advertised his car for sale. Mary inspected the car and declared her desire to purchase it. Gordon was happy with that but when she said she wanted to take it now but would pay him next week, Gordon explained he could not let her have the car until she provided the money. Mary's response was as follows: \"Oh, but I am Joan Bennett, the new Lord Mayor for Melbourne. Don't you recognise me?\" Gordon knew there had been discussion in the paper of the election of a woman Mayor (for the first time) but remembered no details, including the person's name. He felt so foolish that he let her take the car. When he did not hear from Mary, she used the phone number she gave him, only to find it did not exist. He also discovers (of course) that Mary is not Joan Bennett. Gordon found the car when looking at the classified advertisements section of the newspaper but when he contacted the seller, Cheng, Cheng refused to give it back because he had paid cash for it. Required: Who has a better claim to the car, Cheng or Gordon? Give reasons for your answer. (10 marks) Case Facts: Gordon advertised his car for sale. Mary inspected vehicle. Mary offered to purchase the vehicle however said that she would pay for the vehicle next week. Gordon let Mary take the vehicle without any exchange of personal details/funds. Gordon later found the vehicle advertised under another name, Cheng, and Cheng refused to give the vehicle back as he paid cash for it. There was a valid binding contract in this case as the offer by Mary to take the vehicle and pay for the vehicle was accepted by Gordon. However, pre-contractual misrepresentations may provide contractual remedies at common law or statutory remedies pursuant to the Competition and Consumer Act 2010 (Cth) (previously the Trade Practises Act 1974 (Cth) (TPA)) (Clarke, 2010, np). References Schmitthof & Sarre, 1977 p.8 Clarke, Julie (2012). Australian law. Retrieved from http://www.australiancontractlaw.com/law/formation-agreement.html Carter, J W. (2011). Carter's breach of contract. (1st ed.). Trietel, G.H. (1975). The law of contract. (4th ed.). Carter, J W. (2013). Contract law in Australia. (6th ed.). Clarke, Julie (2010). Aviodance. Retrieved from: http://www.australiancontractlaw.com/law/avoidance.html