Also known as: so-made
Written by attorneys · grounded in primary & secondary sources — see below
2 senses
An outward manifestation of willingness to enter a bargain that justifies the recipient in understanding that assent is invited and will conclude the deal.
An outward manifestation of intention to act or refrain from acting in a specified way that justifies the recipient in understanding that a commitment has been made.
Each sense below has its own examples, sources, and questions.
An outward manifestation of willingness to enter a bargain that justifies the recipient in understanding that assent is invited and will conclude the deal.
Lopez at the City of Fairview issued a request for information labeled for planning only. Apex Systems replied by purporting to accept and bind the city to a software purchase. Because the city's statements lacked a present commitment that would justify Apex in believing assent would conclude a bargain, no offer existed and no contract formed.
Apex served pretrial disclosures thirty-five days before trial. The parents' lawyer served written objections within fourteen days but filed them in the wrong case after the period expired. The court treated the objections as waived because they were not served and promptly filed so as to preserve them under the rule.
Dick sued in Texas on a Mexican insurance policy whose performance occurred entirely outside Texas. The Supreme Court held that Texas lacked power to impose greater obligations than those the parties had agreed upon in contracts so made.
Tompkins sued the Erie Railroad in federal court for injuries sustained in Pennsylvania. The Supreme Court required the federal court to apply Pennsylvania law because the Judiciary Act had been so made to bind federal courts to state rules of decision in matters not governed by federal statute.
A court examines whether the manifestation of willingness to enter a bargain was so made as to justify the recipient in understanding that assent would conclude the deal. Language that signals further steps are required or that the speaker does not intend to be bound until additional assent occurs fails this test.
Objections to designated deposition testimony and identified exhibits are waived unless the court finds good cause to excuse the delay.
Conduct constitutes effective acceptance when the party intends the acts and knows or has reason to know that the other party may infer assent from them. Prompt performance of the exact acts invited by the offer satisfies this standard even without a signed writing.
An outward manifestation of intention to act or refrain from acting in a specified way that justifies the recipient in understanding that a commitment has been made.
Ross told Sigma Law's general counsel that sending the files would conclude a flat-fee engagement. Sigma Law responded by immediately forwarding boxes of documents and allowing Ross to appear at a hearing. The conduct manifested assent in a manner that justified Ross in understanding a commitment had been made.
The President removed a postmaster despite a statute requiring Senate consent. The Court upheld the removal because the statute could not limit the executive power that had been so made part of the constitutional structure since 1789.
The promisor is the person whose outward manifestation of intention to act or refrain from acting was so made as to justify the recipient in understanding that a commitment has been made. The key inquiry focuses on which party actually expressed the commitment, not on who stands to benefit or who is mentioned in tentative discussions.
A statement creates an enforceable promise only when it manifests an intention to act in a specified way so made as to justify the recipient in understanding that a commitment has been made. Vague conditions, missing material terms such as scope or compensation, and language that leaves details for later negotiation prevent the required justification.
…arise; and that Congress is powerless otherwise to ordain. It is hard to foresee the consequences of the radical change so made. Our opinion in the Taxicab case cites numerous decisions of this Court which serve in part to indicate the field from which it is now intended forever to bar the federal courts. It extends…
…said cedar tree or trees exist within a radius of two miles of an apple orchard in said locality.” If affirmative findings are so made, he is required to direct the owner in writing to destroy the trees and, in his notice, to furnish a statement of the “fact found to exist whereby it is deemed necessary or proper to…
…intimates that as an original question he would favor the view of the minority, says: "That the final decision of this question so made was greatly influenced by the exalted character of the President then in office, was asserted at the time, and has always been believed. Yet the doctrine was opposed, as well as supported,…
…material, he was physically present and acting in Mexico. Texas was, therefore, without power to affect the terms of contracts so made. Its attempt to impose a greater obligation than that agreed upon and to seize property in payment of the imposed obligation violates the guaranty against deprivation of property without…
…with knowledge that the directors did not hold the beliefs or opinions expressed, and we confine our discussion to statements so made