Welcome to Lawshelf’s video-course on the basics of contract law. This is an introductory level course and no prior knowledge of law or contracts is required.

This course is a survey of basic contract law across a variety of areas. The first three modules cover the nature of contracts and the basic building blocks of contracts: offer, acceptance and consideration. The nuances of each element are considered, and the course focuses on rules such as the mirror image rule, the mailbox rule, mutuality of consideration and promissory estoppel. We also focus on the Uniform Commercial Code and its rules for contracts for the sale of goods.

In Module 4, we cover contract defenses, which allow contracts to be unenforceable despite the building blocks of the contract being in place. Defenses include illegality, incapacity, duress, unconscionability, undue influence, mistake and fraud. We will also look at the statute of frauds, which requires certain contracts to be in writing to be enforceable.

Our final module covers performance and breach, discussing when a contract has been breached and when one party’s breach allows the other party to cease performance. The module also covers contract remedies, which is the study of how contract damages are measured and when specific performance, where the court orders someone to do something, it an appropriate contracts remedy.

This course should give you an understanding of how contract law works the tools to continue with more advanced studies of more specific areas of contract and transactional law.

Best of luck and we welcome your feedback.