When a deal goes wrong, the first question a solicitor asks is: what did the parties actually promise, and does the law treat that promise as binding? Express terms are the words the parties themselves chose — but not everything said before a contract becomes part of it, and not every term carries the same weight when it is broken. Getting this right tells you whether your client can terminate, sue for damages, or has no contractual claim at all.
This lesson takes you through that analysis step by step:
- Terms or Representations? — distinguishing a binding promise from a statement that merely persuaded a party to sign.
- Classifying Terms — conditions, warranties and innominate terms, and what each means when breached.
- Incorporation of Terms — the four routes by which a term actually becomes part of the contract.
- Parol Evidence and Entire Agreement Clauses — when written contracts shut out everything said before, and when they don't.
- Interpretation of Terms — how courts decide what the words mean, objectively and in context.
- Collateral Contracts — how a side promise can be enforced even when the main contract leaves it out.
By the end you'll be able to take a set of facts and say which statements bind, what they mean, and what remedies follow.