Formation, defenses, performance, breach, and remedies — common law with UCC Article 2 integrated.
marks the 10 topics NCBE flags at memorize level — know these cold; the rest lean on provided materials and reasoning.
Governing Law: CL vs UCC★
Identifying whether a transaction is governed by the common law or UCC Article 2, and how to treat hybrid (goods-and-services) transactions under UCC 2-102.
Formation★
Mutual assent — offer and acceptance; unilateral, bilateral, and implied-in-fact contracts; the manifestation of assent; control and termination of the power of acceptance; the mirror-image rule and its UCC displacement; and modification of contracts (common law and UCC).
Consideration & Substitutes★
Consideration as a bargained-for exchange (adequacy, past consideration, the preexisting-duty rule, forbearance) and obligations enforceable without a bargained-for exchange — promissory estoppel and restitution.
Defenses★
Defenses to enforceability: incapacity; duress and undue influence; mistake and misunderstanding; fraud, misrepresentation, and nondisclosure; illegality and public policy; and unconscionability under the common law and the UCC.
Statute of Frauds★
The statute of frauds: contracts covered, satisfaction of the writing requirement, exceptions to the writing requirement, the UCC statute of frauds and its exceptions, and electronic transactions under UETA.
Parol Evidence & Interpretation★
Contract content and meaning: the parol evidence rule (common law and UCC), rules of interpretation and their priority, usage of trade, course of dealing and course of performance, and omitted and implied terms.
Performance, Conditions & Good Faith★
Performance at common law: promises versus conditions, the nonoccurrence and excuse of conditions, conditions of satisfaction, and the obligation of good faith and fair dealing.
UCC Performance & Warranties★
Performance under UCC Article 2 (tender, risk of loss, title, delivery terms, rejection, cure, acceptance, and revocation) and warranties and disclaimers — express warranties, warranties of title and against infringement, implied warranties of merchantability and fitness, and their disclaimer.
Breach, Repudiation & Excuse★
Breach and discharge: material versus partial breach and substantial performance; anticipatory repudiation (common law and UCC); impossibility, impracticability, and frustration of purpose and risk of loss; discharge of duties (accord and satisfaction, novation, rescission, release); and breach of employment contracts.
Remedies★
Contract remedies: the expectation interest and its measure; causation, certainty, and foreseeability; liquidated damages versus penalties; avoidable consequences and mitigation; reformation; specific performance and injunction; reliance and restitution interests; and remedies under the UCC.
Third Parties
Third-party rights and obligations: intended versus incidental third-party beneficiaries and defenses against their claims; and assignment of rights and delegation of duties, including under the UCC.
Try before you buy
Real questions from the Contracts bank, with the full explanation. The paid bank covers all 11 topics and difficulty levels.
Riverside Diner, a restaurant, orders 60 dozen ceramic coffee mugs from a wholesaler for $2,400, with delivery promised in three weeks. When the shipment arrives, roughly a third of the mugs are chipped, and the owner wants to know what rules govern her right to reject them. Her lawyer explains that before any rejection rule can be applied, they must first pin down which body of contract law governs the purchase, because the standard for rejecting an imperfect shipment differs sharply between the two regimes.
Which body of law governs the diner's purchase of the mugs?
A company contracts with a homeowner to design and maintain her garden for one growing season for $9,000, sending a crew each week to prune, plant, and mulch. Midway through the season the homeowner is dissatisfied with the pruning and wants to know whether she can treat the imperfect work as a breach and withhold the balance. Her attorney says the first step is to identify which body of contract law governs, because the standard for adequate performance — substantial performance versus strict conformity — differs between the two regimes.
Which body of law governs the landscaping contract?
A state law student is drilling herself on UCC § 2-105, which defines 'goods' as things movable at the time they are identified to the contract for sale. She reminds herself that only a sale of goods pulls a transaction into Article 2 and its warranty and formation rules, so classification is the threshold move. She writes down four proposed sale contracts and tries to decide which one has a subject matter that qualifies as goods under the Code's movability test.
Which of the following is a sale of 'goods' under UCC Article 2?
A developer hires a general contractor to build a warehouse for $2.4 million. The contractor supplies all of the steel, concrete, lumber, and fixtures and furnishes the labor to erect the structure. After completion, the developer claims the roof leaks and sues. The parties dispute whether the UCC's perfect-tender rule or the common law's substantial-performance standard measures the contractor's obligation, and the value of the materials alone exceeds $1 million. The jurisdiction follows the majority approach to contracts that combine goods and services.
Which body of law most likely governs the construction contract?
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