you're watching video vocab by business English pod dot-com in this lesson we'll
look at the key principles behind contracts and contract law if you've
ever signed up for a mobile phone booked a hotel room or accepted a job offer
you've made a contract and there are several key aspects of every contract
beginning with the intent to make one an offer and consideration for both sides
agreement on the specific elements of a contract leads to acceptance at which
point the contract is legally binding to both parties
of course the parties must have made truthful representations in the course
of their negotiations a contract may also be threatened when one party does
not fulfill its obligations which can lead to repudiation
there is also a situation called frustration when a contract cannot be
when two parties under contract cannot agree they may try to settle their
dispute through a process of arbitration if this doesn't work one party may
attempt to sue the other in court hoping to be awarded damages in the case of a
breach of contract now let's look at the vocabulary in more detail with some
definitions and examples contract to make a contract
a contract is any formal agreement between people or businesses whenever we
make a contract we are creating a legal relationship
under John's employment contract he gets three weeks of vacation every year
intent intent having the intent to make a contract means that you actually want
to make one without intent on both sides there can
while tabatha wanted to make some sort of deal Ron had no intent
offer to make an offer when you propose a possible contract to a person or
business you are making an offer that offer may be accepted rejected or
amended and sent back as a counteroffer
the company's lawyers sent the offer to the competitors legal team
every contract must include something of value however small for both sides this
benefit or item of value is called consideration and felt that the deal
didn't include enough consideration for his party
acceptance happens when both sides agree on a contract
once the offer or contract is formally accepted the agreement becomes legal
acceptance of a contract depends on certain facts being verified
the party's in a contract are those who are agreeing to do something
each party maybe a person a group of people a business or another type of
because the two parties couldn't agree on costs they fail to make a deal
representation to make a representation anytime you make a statement of fact in
a contract or in negotiating a contract you are making a representation
the judge decided that oral inks representations were truthful and
if one party does not fulfill its obligations under a contract
the result is repudiation of the contract
repudiation may have consequences outlined in the contract or it may lead
repeated failure to pay on time led to repudiation of the contract
frustration of a contract happens when the contract cannot be fulfilled for
reasons beyond anyone's control
frustration is not the fault of either party
frustration of the contract came about when it was found to violate trade
when contracted parties can't agree they have a dispute
finding a solution to their disagreement is referred to as settling the dispute
which they may do in or out of court it took the u.s. and Canada years to
settle their dispute over tobacco taxes
contracted parties that have a disagreement will usually try to reach a
solution out of court through arbitration
wanting to avoid a costly legal battle the two companies agreed to arbitration
if the contracted parties can't settle their dispute through arbitration they
in this case a judge may award damages usually in the form of money to the
party that is able to prove their claim the judge awarded damages to the
complainant after a lengthy court case
now it's your turn to practice some of the words we've studied in this lesson
in a moment you'll hear a series of sentences with a word replaced with a
beep repeat each sentence including the missing word for example if you hear I
met with the buyer in my lawyer's office to sign the
you can say I met with the buyer in my lawyer's office to sign the contract
we'll play the correct answer after each question ready let's give it a go we
wanted to settle the out of court to save money
answer we wanted to settle the dispute out of court to save money
I decided to refuse there because the price wasn't right
answer I decided to refuse the offer because the price wasn't right
a contract becomes legal immediately after
answer a contract becomes legal immediately after acceptance
we celebrated when the judge decided to award us
answer we celebrated when the judge decided to award us damages
that's all for this episode of video vocab the first in our series on
contract law be sure to check out our website at www.att.com/biz nough
Singlish vocabulary thanks for watching and see you again soon