Contracts
John W. Taylor, Valencia Luna, Cardella Murphy, Erica Godoy, Paul Bandy
LAW/421 Contemporary Business Law
March 31, 2015
Timothy Sheaffer
Contracts
Our group has studied the common contracts of last week’s assignments. As a team we have encountered these common contracts in our personal and professional lives. We have all dealt with some sort of verbal or written contract, whether or not we realized it at that time. The purpose of this paper is to discuss the topics we are comfortable with, the topics we struggled with, and how the weekly topics relate to the common contracts.
Most of my dealings with contracts were when I was a painter. I interred into many bilateral contracts with people to paint their homes or sections of their homes. The way this would work is, once a client would contact me to let me know that they needed my services I would set up a face to face meeting with them. In that meeting the client would show me what they needed to have painted. We would discuss things like what color, any repairs that needed to be done to the walls, and by what time did the job need to be completed. I would also ask the client what they think it should look like when it is done. This way we could be sure that the client had real expectations about what they were going to end up with. Once everything has been discussed, then we talk price. Once we have agreed on a price, we set a start date for the job. I would always set the start date at least three days after the day we agreed to inter into a contract; this will give the client time to change their mind with costing me any money.
After that three day waiting period, I will give the client a written contract that stated all the things we both have agreed on and the time limits. Basically, I promise to do, X Y and Z by this date. You promise to do A B and C by this date. When all the promises are met, you will give me the agreed amount of money and you will have a painted area.
I have always been comfortable with this approach. I have not really had any struggles. If I have to deal with something that does not feel right or seen to be a struggle, I would just not make an offer.
Written or spoken agreement is known as a contract. In most cases they are written but may be spoken or implied. Personal experience dealing with oral contracts started back when as kids we begin betting everything. When you bet someone your candy for a game of rock paper scissors is already putting yourself into an agreement with the other person. Having my friends around to witness provided the proof. Growing up I have experience how important it is to commit to a written or oral contract because either your signature or your word provides the agreement. The devil is in the details. That is especially true when my wife and I started accepting bids for replacing the roof on our house. We did what most homeowners do and called out three separate contractors for an invitation to bid. It was interesting to see the way in which the different contractors would gather information in order to draw up a quote, and then see how that affected