Discussions in Contracts: Duration of Offers Podcast

The topic of this podcast is how to determine the duration of the power of acceptance in the offeree and whether that power of acceptance has been terminated. Recall that a contract is a promise or set of promises which the law enforces. Ordinarily, the manifestation of mutual assent takes place by virtue of an offer by the offeror, which is then followed by an acceptance by the offeree. Once an offer is terminated, the power of acceptance is no longer present unless the offeror revives the offer at a later time. Remember that in contracts we use an objective test to evaluate the facts of the situation to determine whether the power of acceptance is still present. That is, what a reasonable person would believe in the circumstances.

At the conclusion of this podcast you should be able to (1) define the four methods of terminating an offer prior to acceptance: (i) by rejection or counteroffer by the offeree, (ii) by lapse of the offer, (iii) by revocation by the offeror; or (iv) by death or incapacity of the offeror or the offeree; and (2) evaluate factual situations to determine when a reasonable person would conclude that the power of acceptance is no longer present such that an offeree cannot accept the offer.