Contract law is a body of law that is used to govern both oral and written agreements associated with the exchange of goods and services, money, and properties. It covers topics including the nature of contractual obligations, termination of contracts, limitations of actions, and contracts of employment. Contracts are used daily: when you book a flight online, you are making a contract that you are expecting the other party to honor.
The Purpose
The purpose of contract law in Santa Barbara, CA is to protect all parties involved in a contract by allowing them to take legal actions against the party who is defaulting on the contract. Contract law is also used to define which agreements are and are not legally binding. For example, if you are purchasing a car from someone and you agree to a price of $1000 on the agreement that there are 50,000 miles on the car, contract law would protect you and render the contract void if you got the car and found that there were actually 100,000 miles on the car.
The Usage
Contract law is useful when one of the parties who signed the contract determines that he or she didn’t receive what the contract stated he or she would. This law would allow the mistreated party to take the other party to court and attempt to have the contract rendered void. Of course, if the original party couldn’t prove that the contract wasn’t followed, then the contract would be valid and he or she would be expected to uphold his or her side of the contract.
Employment
Contracts of employment are commonly used to ensure that both the employee and the employer are protected from being mistreated. The employer can outline reasonable terms that the employee must follow to keep his or her job. This allows the employer to terminate the employee if the terms are not followed and not be at risk of being sued for wrongful termination.
