Letter of Advice to client Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Letter of Advice to client - Research Paper Example Of importance, landmark decisions will be central to the essay construction. The author will wrap up with a conclusion of the major findings. According to Stone1, consideration is mandatory in contract law to make agreements legally binding. It forms the test for enforceability of contracts. Its absence makes an agreement gratuitous and non enforceable as a contract. Estoppel is a claim in equity precluding someone from denying existence of a state of affairs if it would be unconscionable2 and the doctrine deals with pre-contractual waste by preventing adoption of positions at odds with previously relied upon positions by others3. Such denial might affect a person’s legal rights. Owen J. in The Bell Group Ltd v Westpac Banking Corporation4 defined estoppel as a: â€Å"†¦ doctrine designed to protect a party from the detriment that would flow from that party’s change of position if the assumption or expectation that led to it were to be rendered groundless by another.†1 In common law, the claimant had to prove existence of a contractual relationship in defense against a claim of non performance of contract. The requirement of consideration led to injustices which promissory estoppel sought to address. By preventing a promisor from reneging on promises without consideration, Handley AJA in Equititrust Ltd (formerly Equitiloan Ltd) v Franks4 noted that promissory estoppel dealt with equitably binding assurances restraining promisors from enforcing his legal rights. Estoppel can be traced to Denning J’s reasoning in Central London Property Trust Ltd v High Trees House Ltd5 which described estoppel ensuring justice and equity6 in holding a landlord to his undertaking to accept reduced rent. The defendant was estopped from demanding rent arrears for the period of the war due to scarcity of tenants7. Professor Atiyah8 states that consideration was classically a