Contract Law Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words - 1

Contract Law - Essay Example Trietel distinguishes the obligations arising out of a contract on the basis of mutual agreement between parties3. The â€Å"consideration,† which Stone defines as â€Å"what one party to an agreement is giving, or promising in exchange for what is being given or promised from the other side†4 in this case is 2000 pounds, payable to Alexander Constructions, for completing the excavation. However, when Alexander Constructions strikes the thick layer of rock, it is promised an additional 500 pounds by Brown in the interest of getting the work completed on time. This is not however, a part of the original consideration that has been spelt out in the contract. Brown may be able to reply on the precedent in the case of Stilk v Myrick5 to refute the payment of an extra 500 pounds, since Alexander Constructions was only carrying out the excavations which were already a part of the original contract. In the Stilk6 case, Stilk was a sailor who was promised additional pay to get the vessel back to London when two other sailors deserted ship. The Court however held that under the terms of his contract, Stilk was obliged to cope with emergencies and had therefore done nothing beyond his contractual terms to justify additional pay. This could be applied to the case of Alexander Constructions as well. However, a similar situation arose in the case of Hartley v Ponsonby,7 where a sailor sued for additional pay that was offered to get the ship back when other sailors deserted ship. But in this case, the Court fund on behalf of the sailor and he was granted the additional pay. The only difference in these two cases lay in the fact that in the Stilk case, the number of sailors who deserted was only two, hence the condition of the remaining sailors was not dire and they should have been able to cope. As opposed to this, in the Hartley case, there were substantial desertions,