Question 1

Courts do not allow a nonbreaching party to increase his damages for breach of contract intentionally.

Accepted Answer

Courts do not allow a nonbreaching party to increase his damages for breach of contract intentionally.In fact,to recover damages in a breach of contract case,the plaintiff must demonstrate that he used reasonable efforts to minimize the damage resulting from the breach.

Question 2

Once a contract has been anticipatorily repudiated,the nonbreaching party must wait until the other party's contractually specified time period for performance has expired to sue for breach of contract and take other remedial measures.

Accepted Answer

Once a contract has been anticipatorily repudiated,the nonbreaching party is discharged from his obligations under the contract.He is free to go ahead and sue for breach and to find a similar contract elsewhere.However,if the nonbreaching party wishes,he may decide to give the party who repudiated the opportunity to change her mind and still perform.

Question 3

Courts are very willing to grant specific performance.

Accepted Answer

Specific performance is sometimes called specific enforcement.It is an order requiring the breaching party to fulfill the terms of the agreement.Courts are very reluctant to grant specific performance and will do so only when monetary damages simply are not adequate,typically because the subject matter of the contract is unique.

Question 4

Liquidated damage clauses in construction contracts are,as a matter of law,void.

Accepted Answer

Liquidated damage clauses are frequently used in construction contracts when the buyer needs to know that the property will be available by a specific date so that she can make her plans for moving in.In such a case,the parties may estimate in advance what it will cost the buyer for storage and temporary housing if the property is not ready by the specified date.The courts generally enforce such clauses as long as they appear to bear a reasonable relationship to what the actual costs will be.

Question 5

The three types of contractual conditions are condition precedent,condition subsequent,and recurrent conditions.

Accepted Answer

Condition precedent,condition subsequent,and concurrent conditions are the three types of contractual conditions.

Question 6

Recovery under a quasi-contract theory requires proof that the defendant would be unjustly enriched from receiving a benefit conferred to him by the plaintiff without compensating the plaintiff for it.

Accepted Answer

To recover under a theory of quasi-contract,a plaintiff must prove that: a)the plaintiff conferred a benefit on the defendant; b)the plaintiff had reasonably expected to be compensated from the benefit conferred on the defendant; and c)the defendant would be unjustly enriched from receiving the benefit without compensating the plaintiff for it.

Question 7

Under Japanese law,parties to a contract may specify liquidated damages recoverable when a contractual obligation is not performed at all or not performed by a specified date.

Accepted Answer

Japanese law provides for liquidated damages similar to those available in the United States.Under Article 420 of the Japanese Code,parties to a contract may specify in advance the amount of compensation payable when a contractual obligation is not performed at all or not performed by a specified date.

Question 8

Express conditions are usually preceded by words such as conditioned on,if,provided that,or when.

Accepted Answer

Express conditions are explicitly stated in the contract and are usually preceded by words such as conditioned on,if,provided that,or when.

Question 9

To recover damages in a breach of contract case,the plaintiff must demonstrate that he used reasonable efforts to minimize the damage resulting from the breach.This obligation is referred to as the duty of substantial performance.

Accepted Answer

Courts do not allow a nonbreaching party to increase his damages for breach of contract intentionally.In fact,to recover damages in a breach of contract case,the plaintiff must demonstrate that he used reasonable efforts to minimize the damage resulting from the breach.This obligation is referred to as the duty to mitigate one's damages.

Question 10

Under ordinary circumstances,a party's duty to perform the promise agreed to in a contract is conditional.

Accepted Answer

Under ordinary circumstances,a party's duty to perform the promise agreed to in a contract is absolute.Sometimes,however,a party's duty to perform may be affected by whether a certain condition occurs.

Question 11

A breach occurs whenever a party fails to perform her obligations under the contract.

Accepted Answer

A breach occurs whenever a party fails to perform her obligations under the contract.If the breach is a minor one,it may entitle the nonbreaching party to damages,but it does not discharge the nonbreaching party from the contract.

Question 12

Usually,injunctions are prohibitions against actions.

Accepted Answer

An injunction is an order either forcing a person to do something or prohibiting a person from doing something.Most commonly,injunctions are prohibitions against actions.

Question 13

Reformation is an equitable remedy.

Accepted Answer

Reformation is an equitable remedy available for a breach of contract action.Sometimes a written contract does not reflect the parties' actual agreement,or the contract may have inconsistencies.In such a case,the court may rewrite (i.e.,reform)the contract to reflect the parties' actual agreement.

Question 14

A concurrent condition is a future event that terminates the obligations of the parties when it occurs.

Accepted Answer

Concurrent conditions occur when each party's performance is conditioned on the performance of the other.They occur only when the parties are required to perform for each other simultaneously.

Question 15

Accord and satisfaction is used when one of the parties wants to substitute a different performance for his original duty under the contract.

Accepted Answer

Accord and satisfaction is used when one of the parties wants to substitute a different performance for his original duty under the contract.The promise to perform the new duty is called the accord,and the actual performance of that new duty is called the satisfaction.

Question 16

Restitution is the termination of a contract,and rescission is the return of any property given up under the contract.

Accepted Answer

Sometimes contracting parties want to be returned to their precontract status; they want to have the contract terminated and to have any transferred property returned to its original owner.That is,they want rescission and restitution.Rescission is the termination of a contract,and restitution is the return of any property given up under the contract.

Question 17

Contractual conditions may be either implied by law or expressly inserted into the contract by the parties.

Accepted Answer

Contracts containing conditions that affect the performance obligations of the parties are called conditional contracts.The conditions may be either implied by law or expressly inserted into the contract by the parties.

Question 18

The most frequently awarded damages in a breach of contract action are consequential damages.

Accepted Answer

The most frequently awarded damages in a breach of contract action are compensatory damages,damages designed to put the plaintiff in the position he would have been in had the contract been fully performed.One type of damages in contract cases that is often especially difficult to prove is consequential (special)damages.Consequential damages are foreseeable damages that result from special facts and circumstances arising outside the contract itself.These damages must be within the contemplation of the parties at the time the breach occurs.

Question 19

Specific performance is also referred to as reformation.

Accepted Answer

Specific performance is also called specific enforcement.It is an order requiring the breaching party to fulfill the terms of the agreement.Reformation refers to a court rewriting a contract to reflect the parties' actual agreement.

Question 20

If the contract contains a clause in which an event must occur in order for a party's duty to arise,then that contract contains a condition precedent.

Accepted Answer

A condition precedent is a particular event that must occur for a party's duty to arise.If the event does not occur,the party's duty to perform does not arise.

Quiz 14: Discharge and Remedies