Contract Formation: Law and Practice

This book on contract formation provides a practical analysis of the legal principles which govern the formation of contracts in English law, offering those involved in litigation and in drafting contracts a guide to the application of those principles in practice. The first part of this work discusses negotiations falling short of binding agreements. It examines the uses of letters of intent and how to draft them. The book gives detailed treatment of the topics of 'subject to contract' and conditional contracts as well as the issue of intention to create legal relations. Completing this part are chapters on certainty and a summary explaining pre-contracted liability in English law.The second part of the work looks at the formation of the contract in process. This provides for full coverage of topics such as the mirror image rule, battle of laws and acceptance by silence. There is also a substantial chapter in this part examining the legal status of requests to submit tenders, tenders themselves, and obligations associated with the tendering process.Although this work is based on English law, the authors draw upon decisions in other jurisdictions such as Australia, Canada, the United States and New Zealand, where these inform the development of principles in English law.

Table of Contents:
1: Formation and the Concept of Agreement 2: Offers and Invitations to Treat 3: Termination and Revocation of Offers 4: Acceptance 5: Auctions and Tenders 6: Formation Online 7: Letters of Intent 8: Practical Aspects of Letters of Intent 9: Conditional Contracts 10: Denial of Legally Binding Effect 11: Certainty and Completeness 12: Is There a Duty to Negotiate in Good Faith? 13: Pre-Contractual Liability

About the Author :
Michael Furmston is Professor of Law at Singapore Management University. He studied law at Oxford and has taught at Birmingham, Belfast, Oxford and Bristol. He was called to the Bar at Gray's Inn in 1960 and has been a Bencher of Gray's Inn since 1989. He is a member of the UNIDROIT working group which produced the General Principles for International Commercial Contracts. Greg Tolhurst is an Associate Professor at Sydney Law School. He is also an editor of the Journal of Contract Law, an editor of the Commercial Law Quarterly and a consultant editor of Carter on Contract. His research interests lie in the areas of contract law and personal property.

Review :
This book is a vital asset for anyone with a problem, whether they have a binding contract, be they practising lawyers, businessmen, academics, or, dare I say it, judges. Clifford Joseph, Graya This is an excellent, well written text. It appropriately approaches the area from the perspective of pinciple, rather than simply setting out the results of endless cases. It is very well structured, with each issue brokedn down into its component parts and dealt with rigorously and in depth. A wealth of UK, Commonwealth, US and international sources are referenced. Professor Elizabeth MacDonald, Professor of Law, University of Swansea ...a thorough examination of the major areas of interest concerning contract formation, and the authors deserve much credit for a vast amount of research which collages a huge quantity of disparate material. This book should serve as a helpful reference point, particularly for practitioners, at whom it is primarily aimed...Overall, Furmston and Tolhurst have produced a helpful book on an important subject, which will assist and illuminate discussion of this major field of contract law. Paul S. Davies, The Cambridge Law Journal This book provides a detailed and constructive review of the specific issues arising from contract formation. Gillian Black, Edinburgh Law Review