Unilateral contracts in the Pioneer Trail Ultramarathon case

¶ … contract while the other on unilateral contract.

Summary of Important Facts

The Pioneer Trail Ultramarathon is sponsored by Rocky Mountain Races, Inc., with $10,000 as the advertised first prize. According to the rules, competitors are required to run a distance of about 100 miles from the bottom of Blackwater Canyon to the very top of the Pinnacle Mountain. The rules further states that Rocky Mountain Races has the right to alter the terms that bind the races, whenever they deem fit. Monica goes into the race and is named the winner of the competition (Instruction made available by the customer). Rocky Mountain Races decides to pay her $1,000 instead of the usual $10,000. Then the big questions is, does any contract exist between Rocky Mountain Races and Monica?

Legal matters Involved

The legal matter involved is the possibility of breaching a contract (Writer Thoughts).

Case Analysis

In a one-sided or unilateral contract, one of the parties known as the offeror, promises another party known as the offeree, an exchange for an action or abstinence from taking the action. In a situation where the offeree acts out of the promise of the offeror, the onus falls on the offeror to fulfill the contract terms, but the offeror has no legal rights to force the offeree to either take the action or abstain from taking it. This is due to the fact that no kind of return promise was made to the offeror (Legal meaning of unilateral contract, n.d.). After the action or performance of the offeree, there can only be one enforceable promise, which is the promise of the offeror. In this context, the offeror, Rocky Mountain Races promised to pay $10,000 cash prize as first prize. The offeree, Monica, was declared the winner. But, it should be taken into account that Rocky Mountain Races have the legal right to alter the contract terms whenever they deem fit. Due to this right, Rocky Mountain Races decided to offer Monica $1, 000 instead of the initially advertised $10,000 (Writer Thoughts).

Conclusion

In this case, though shady, Monica does not reserve the right to sue the offeror, following the clause that Rocky Mountain Races can alter the contract terms, whenever they choose to do so (Writer Thoughts). The offered reward was the term they changed. They paid $1,000 instead of the $10,000 they advertised.

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Case Analysis

Every implied contract is an enforceable agreement by law, arising from assumed intention, conduct, and some relationship existing between immediate parties, or arising from applying the legal requirements of equity.

For instance, a contract is established when there is a voluntary acceptance of benefit by one party from another under certain circumstances, when the benefit cannot be said to be any kind of gift (What is the meaning and definition of implied contract?, n.d.). Consequently, there is a legal obligation binding the party receiving the benefit to offer the received benefit's fair value.

Conclusion

In several construction cases, the party suing the other mostly seeks recovery under either an unjust enrichment or a breach of contract action claim, or sometimes both. But, there is a binding order from the court in cases where an express contract exists between the two parties; no claim of unjust enrichment can emerge (Devine, 2010). The main elements of most unjust enrichment claims include: (1) a benefit has been awarded to a defendant by a plaintiff; (2) the defendant possessed firsthand knowledge of the benefit; and (3) the defendant held on to the benefits in situations where doing so without payment would be considered unjust. While the party involved may not be able to recover that same service, under both a claim for an unjust enrichment and a contractual claim, it is possible for a party to seek recovery under the two theories. And, in cases where the two theories fail, recover under the unjust enrichment theory. Nursing services can possibly get the billed $4,000.