28 Sep Does Your Contract Have A Mistake?
Welcome to our 3 part series on mistake in contract. We have broken down this post into three parts with three separate videos, so that we can cover Mistake in the Outline, MCQ’s, and Essay Issue Spotting. Mistake is commonly misunderstood and missed on essay analysis. Making sure that you have a good grasp surrounding the theory of mistake in contract as a defense to formation will ensure that you don’t miss out on ANY points.
Mistake
Unilateral Mistake – When only 1 of the parties enters into the contract due to mistake, no relief is granted unless the non-mistaken party knew or had reason to know of the mistake.
Mutual Mistake – Where 1.) both parties are mistaken as to a basic assumption/belief of the contract, 2.) the mistake goes to a material aspect of the subject matter and 3.) the party asserting the mistake as a defense did not assume the risk of the mistake. This makes the contract voidable.
Mistranscription – Where the parties reach an ORAL agreement to the terms of the contract and an error is made when reducing the agreement to writing, reformation is available to correct the mistake to reflect the parties true intention.
Mistake In Your Outline – Part 1
Multiple Choice Mistake – Part 2
In Part 2 of our coverage on mistake in contracting we will look at a few MCQ’s. Some of the repeat offender questions on the FYLSE concern mistake and the true intention of the parties at the time of contracting. The theory of mistake can show in many forms; the correct answer, the misleading answer, and the means to finding the correct answer; but the only way to be able to correctly utilize mistake is to understand how it appears in MCQ’s.
Mistake in Your Essay – Part 3
When approaching mistake in an essay it is important to identify the point in the fact pattern which discerns what the parties know. Knowing what the parties knows allows you to clearly identify which mistake you will discuss. If it is not ambiguous as to which mistake to discuss then discuss both; unilateral and mutual mistake. When the fact pattern is ambiguous this allows you to argue both sides more efficiently and show the grader you know how to apply analysis to your rule statements.
