Legal
The facts of the case are as follows. Fran owns a candy store, and Ed is a friend of hers. Normally, Ed would enter the store almost daily and buy one or two candy bars. On the day in question, he took the candy bar without purchasing it. Ed waved the candy at Fran, but did not say a word and did not produce payment for the candy bar before walking out.
The issue at hand is whether Ed owes Fran money for the bar. He did not pay for the bar, and therefore it can be questioned whether Ed and Fran had some sort of implied agreement either for Ed to receive the bar for free, or for Ed to make payment to Fran at a later date. In an implied contract, it is the conduct of the parties, rather than their words, that defines the terms of the implied contract.
There are three rules for the establishment of an implied contract. The first is whether...
This is the consideration part of the contract. In this case, the item in question is the candy bar. The plaintiff did not explicitly furnish the candy bar, but rather had the candy bar on display for sale in her store. The second rule for the establishment of an implied contract is whether or not the plaintiff expected to be paid for that property (the candy bar), and whether the defendant should have known that payment was expected. Given the history of the events between Ed and Fran, it is reasonable that Fran would have expected payment. Ed had always paid before. In addition, Fran did not offer the bar to Ed; Ed simply took it. The bar was on display, offered by Fran for sale to anybody who wanted to purchase it. Ed would have been aware of this, and he would have been aware that he normally paid for his candy…
