Business law Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words - 13

Business law - Essay Example In case of a valid contract between two parties, both the parties must be a promisor as well as a promisee. This means that both must gain as well as lose something as a result of the transaction made under the terms of the contract. The consideration is what is exchanged between the contracting parties during the transaction. In the case of a contract for providing some services, consideration for the service provider is the receipt of payment whereas for the client, the consideration is the service rendered by the service provider. Hence, while consideration may be different for the contracting parties, it must flow from both sides by parties acting in the capacity of promisee. Consideration for one party may be in the form of cash while it may be in the form of intangible services or a tangible good for another. Nonetheless, the existence of consideration in one form or the other is essential for a valid contract. It is important for consideration to meet certain requirements before it may be considered as valid consideration. Consideration must not be a past action unless it was done in response to a specific request (Whincup 74). English law does not recognize past consideration as valid (Tonapi 2). In other words, a promise to provide some consideration must be made before it is provided or executed. In the present scenario involving Kris and the claim for damages, the provision of complimentary chocolates is not valid consideration because it was not agreed upon between the parties at the time the agreement for providing chocolate for the wedding cake was made. The complimentary chocolate was provided later as a goodwill gesture and was not an expected part of the contract. Secondly, the consideration must move from the promisee. The consideration should move from both sides but the parties must execute it in the capacity of promisee instead of promisor. Mutuality of agreement is an important element of valid