On November 1st John offers in writing sent by fax to buy Bob's boat for $5,000 provided Bob accepts the offer by fax, no later thanNovember 3rd. On November 1st Bob calls John and acknowledges that he received the offer and says he will think about it and get back to him before November 4th.John says okay.On November 3rd before he receives an acceptance or rejection from Bob, John spots the same boat for sale with a different owner for $4,000. He immediately writes a letter revoking his offer to buy Bob's boat, sends it to Bob by fax.Bob, who is not at home and knows nothing about John's intended revocation of his offer to buy, sends an email on November 3rd from his laptop computer to John accepting his offer of $5,000.John is not aware of Bob'sacceptance and signs a contract to buy the other boat for $4,000. Is there a valid and enforceable contract between John and Bob?What is your basis for this conclusion? Is your opinion and the outcome different if John sent his revocation by fax and Bob saw it before he sent hisacceptanceemail?

it is the source I have. I want to know some other opinion it does not need to be a lot. Thank you

MS-Mini-Lecture CHAPTER 11 AGREEMENT The rst primary element of a contract is agreement. This legal concept is covered in detail in Chapter 11, with the remaining three primary elements of consideration, capacity and legality ' covered in Chapter 12. The rst element of agreement involves a determination as to whether there was a "meeting of the minds" of the parties involved of a sufcient degree to ' subsequently warrant enforcement. The court will utilize the "objective theory of contracts", see (p. 257), that is an examination of the words, conduct, behavior, and circumstances involving the parties as viewed by a reasonable person standard to determine whether there was an adequate or sufcient understanding to satisfy the rst element necessary- agreement. It is not important what the party thought they agreed to, it is their spoken words, their writings, their behaviors, and other circumstances of their conduct and actions as would be viewed by objective outside reasonable person that determines whether there was an agreement. ' An agreement is comprised of two basic components: an offer and an acceptance. Let's first look at "offer". To comprise an offer there are three basic requirements: 1. an intentional ; promise or commitment, 2. reasonably certain or denite terms, and 3. communication ofthe promise or commitment to the intended party. Intent to offer means a serious and objective intention to commit to a promise. It is not intended to be something said injest, said in anger, or a dare. An offer is not one being boastful, bragging, stating an opinion, or , suggesting they may make an offer in the future. Negotiations and a party giving their opinion are not considered offers. Auctions, contests, and advertisements are not considered ' offers-see (p.276) either. Remember this "intent" of what the circumstances were will be viewed from the reasonable person objective theory perspective. The second component is that ' the offer must contain terms that are reasonably denite. Typically this would include the identity of the parties, identity of the object or subject matter of the offer including the quantity ' of the goods, identication of the service to be performed, consideration to be paid, and time and delivery of the performance. Last, the offer must be communicated to the offeree by . the offeror. It cannot be accepted unless the offeror intended to release the offer for consideration of acceptance by the offeree. Remember the offer is not available to be accepted by a . third party, an unintended person or entity. Once we have determined that an offer has been made, we have to determine if it has been accepted by the offeree in order to know whether we have a contract formed. But what if the ' person making the offer changes his mind and wants to cancel the offer? This is called "revocation". Revocation is effective only when it is received by the offeree. That is if the offer is . accepted by the offeree before the offeree receives the notice of revocation from the offeror there is still a valid contract. This is true even if I mailed my revocation to the offeree before they accepted the offer. Example, on April 1st the offeree receives my offer to buy her car for $5,000. In the morning of April 2nd I get cold feet and want to revoke my offer to buy 1 the car and stick a letter in the mail later that afternoon saying I revoke the offer. On April 3rd the offeree accepts my offer and mails a letter of acceptance that day. On April 4th the , letter of revocation is received by the offeree that I sent by mail on April 2nd. On April 5th I receive the offerees acceptance letter. Under the so called "mailbox rule"(p.270), acceptance 1 is valid on "dispatch" provided I have used an appropriate means of communicating that acceptance. Generally, the means used for acceptance on dispatch will be upheld as appropriate if it is the same means that was used to communicate the offer or a faster means than what was used. But ifl receive the offer by email or fax, and send my acceptance by regular mail . there could be a serious problem if the offer is revoked before the acceptance is received. So with respect to the above example, since the acceptance was "dispatched" before the revocation was received, there is a valid contract. Offers can also become unacceptable and unenforceable even if they are not revoked by decision of the offeror after it is made under ' the following circumstances: expiration by the lapse of time("this offer will expire if not accepted by April 1st"), destruction of the subject matter before acceptance, death or incompetence , of their party, and supervening illegality by the enactment ofa new law. If no specic time is established by the offeror for the acceptance, the offer is not good forever, the court will assume the time for acceptance has lapsed after a reasonable period of time has expired for acceptance, assuming it has not been sooner revoked by the offeror. Once we have determined that an offer has been made, we have to determine if it has been accepted by the offeree in order to know whether we have a contract formed. But what if the person making the offer changes his mind and wants to cancel the offer? This is called "revocation". Revocation is effective only when it is received by the offeree. That is if the offer is accepted by the offeree before the offeree receives the notice of revocation from the offeror there is still a valid contract. This is true even if I mailed my revocation to the offeree before they accepted the offer. Example, on April 1st the offeree receives my offer to buy her car for $5,000. In the morning of April 2nd I get cold feet and want to revoke my offer to buy the car and stick a letter in the mail later that afternoon saying I revoke the offer. On April 3rd the offeree accepts my offer and mails a letter of acceptance that day. On April 4th the letter of revocation is received by the offeree that I sent by mail on April 2nd. On April 5th I receive the offerees acceptance letter. Under the so called "mailbox rule"(p.270), acceptance is valid on "dispatch" provided I have used an appropriate means of communicating that acceptance. Generally, the means used for acceptance on dispatch will be upheld as appropriate if it is the same means that was used to communicate the offer or a faster means than what was used. But ifl receive the offer by email or fax, and send my acceptance by regular mail there could be a serious problem if the offer is revoked before the acceptance is received. 50 with respect to the above example, since the acceptance was "dispatched" before the revocation was received, there is a valid contract. Offers can also become unacceptable and unenforceable even if they are not revoked by decision of the offeror after it is made under the following circumstances: expiration by the lapse of time("this offer will expire if not accepted by April ist"), destruction of the subject matter before acceptance, death or incompetence of their party, and supervening illegality by the enactment of a new law. If no specic time is established by the offeror for the acceptance, the offer is not good forever, the court will assume the time for acceptance has lapsed after a reasonable period of time has expired for acceptance, assuming it has not been sooner revoked by the offeror. How does acceptance occur? Can you verbally accept a written offer? Yes-it good business practice to follow it up with a written acknowledgment of the conversation. The specic form of acceptance is generally not as important as communication of the acceptance and that the acceptance is not qualied by a new condition or term. The acceptance must be a "mirror im_age_" of the offer made. Changing a material term in your acceptance may be considered a counter-offer. Counter-offers are considered rejections of the original offer and once made result in the inability of the offeree to bind the offereror to the original offer made. So if the offeror rejects your counter-offer let's say for a higher price, you can not bind him to his original offer unless he specically agrees that his original offer is still valid. Bear in mind that mere inquiry as to whether the offeror might be agreeable to a higher offer is not considered a counter-offer or a rejection. Acceptance can be in the form of an email, a fax, a letter, a telephone call, a note, or a voice mail. The acceptance again can be verbal and in the instance of a unilateral contract it can be the performance of the service. "I will pay you $50 if you mow my lawn by Friday." "I don't know ifl can do it let me think about it, is the response," Instead of responding | mow the lawn. The act of mowing the lawn, performing the service is the acceptance. Can silence be an acceptance? Generally not, but there are exceptions, such as acceptance ofa service with the knowledge it is being performed or a history of prior dealings where no afrmative acceptance was custom or practice between the parties. The last part of this chapter deals with E-contracts, or electronic contracts. There is some extremely useful and important information on what to include in an on-llne contract-particularly an interactive website. See page 283. Be sure to read the definition of a "click on agreement on Page 288. One of the most important provisions to review and consider is the dispute resolution provisions including the Forum Selection Clause in the event ofa dispute. Could you have to defend a dispute in Missouri ifyour company sells a product to someone in that state? Answer depends on the contract. Yesif the contract is silent and no-if the contract designates New York as the forum for dispute resolution either in the courts or through Arbitration