| Unilateral & Bilateral Contracts Contracts 101 |
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A unilateral contract is one in which the offeror is bargaining for a completed performance. For example an offer of a reward to catch a fugitive (or a fish) is an offer that looks towards the formation of a unilateral contract. A bilateral contract is one in which the offeror is bargaining for a promise to perform. Most contracts which have commercial significance are bilateral.
What if B starts to walk across the bridge
in response to A's offer but when she is halfway across the bridge, A drops
down from the sky in a parachute and shouts "I revoke." Is B's power to
accept the offer by completing performance terminated? Professor Wormser
originally argued that it was. After all, if the only way to accept an
offer to enter into a unilateral contract was by completely performing,
and the offeror retained his power to revoke or withdraw the offer any
time prior to acceptance, then it follows logically that A could effectively
revoke the offer because there has been no acceptance until B has walked
the entire length of the bridge.
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