Elements of a contract

When two parties enter into a contractual agreement, one party agrees to do something in exchange for something from the other party. However, for these contracts to be enforceable by the courts they must contain three required elements: an offer, acceptance, and consideration. Each of these elements is important to the contract and have specific requirements that must be met in order for them to be valid.

An offer is when one party promises to do something, or refrain from doing something, in the future. Offers should include details like price, quantity, the parties and subjects involved, consideration, and time for acceptance. When these elements are present the offer creates a power of acceptance in the offeree. This means they now have the power to bind the offeror to the contract. A statement is not an offer if it does not create a power of acceptance. After an offer is made, it is up to the offeree to accept. This can be done by words or conduct, but it must be made known to the offeror for the contract to be legal. Finally, consideration is what each party gets in return for their contractual performance. Consideration must be legal acts or goods and cannot come in the form of gifts or rewards for past performances. A contract can only cover future actions or enterprises. Once all three of these elements are in place the contract should be legally valid and binding.

Link:

http://www.newsrecord.org/mobile/news/uc-legend-sues-ncaa-over-trading-cards-1.2451820

Oscar Robertson sues the NCAA, College licensing Co., and Electronic Arts (makers of NCAA video games) for using his likeness without compensation. Interesting because it is another example of how college sports capitalizes on its players while they are forbidden from profiting in any way.

Laws and Regulations

While laws and regulations are put in place to control or, at least persuade, human behavior, they differ in several ways including the manner in which they are created and enforced.

Laws in the United States are created from four sources: Constitutional law, statutory law, administrative law, and common law (which include case law). Constitutional laws are created by constitution and are the most powerful. No other type of law can conflict or override them, and while each state has its own constitution and laws, the US constitution supersedes them. Common laws are laws put in place after a precedent has been set by court rulings. Statutory laws are created by legislatures at state and federal levels and cover numerous areas; however, these laws are limited by jurisdiction. Administrative laws are created by local, state, and federal administrative agencies. The laws they create within their own jurisdictions are called rules and regulations.

Regulations differ from laws in that they can be created and enforced by the agencies and organizations rather than state or federal governments. They are essentially a way of establishing what is allowed by law. Regulations are often put in place to control business practices or market conditions and are usually enforced through sanctions or fines rather than criminal court. They usually have a very distinct purpose and cover specific acts of an organization or industry. Another key difference is that laws are can only be enacted by congress while regulations are written by administrative agencies to help enforce the laws.

Link:

http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/news/story?id=6048818

A man accused of robbing an NBA player is sentenced to 13 years in prison. It is interesting to me in that he robbed other NBA players as well, but it also shows a possible dark side of exposing the salary details of professional athletes. It can make them a target within their community.