25
votes
Accepted
Is an oral "contract" legally binding?
If an offer is accepted, you have a contract
Oral contracts are binding for most transactions.
See What is a contract and what is required for them to be valid?
However, from the circumstances, it’...
- 227k
9
votes
Contractor Did Not List His Legal Business Name On Contract. Is The Contract Enforceable?
The contract is enforceable
No one is in any doubt that the parties to the contract are you and Smith Homes and everyone knows that Smith Homes means Smith Homes LLC. The written document is only ...
- 227k
9
votes
Accepted
Are editable word documents ('.docx' files) accepted in court as evidence?
Whether they are admissible as evidence is up to the trier of law
The “trier of law” (judge) decides what evidence is admissible according to the rules of evidence.
Documents of most kinds are not ...
- 227k
9
votes
Is an oral "contract" legally binding?
In principle, oral contacts are binding, but your example has several issues that make it quite poor:
in many states in the US, employment is 'at will' which means it can be terminated at any time ...
- 231
5
votes
Does typed up notes of an oral conversation make the oral discussion more legally binding?
An oral contract is (usually) entirely legally binding (exceptions include things like land sales). Written notes do not change that.
The important thing about nearly contemporaneous notes is that if ...
4
votes
Does typed up notes of an oral conversation make the oral discussion more legally binding?
In the USA, some things require a written and signed contract, other things only require a verbal contract. I don’t think there is a situation where notes of a verbal contract turn it from not binding ...
- 35.4k
4
votes
How it is proven that an e-mail or text message (SMS) was not forged by the recipient?
Each side presents the evidence that they wish and the court decides who to believe
This will involve lay witnesses who testify to what they saw and heard, expert witnesses who can give opinions and ...
- 227k
4
votes
Accepted
Legally binding digital signature
A contract is binding if it has been agreed by both sides and is otherwise legal and freely entered into. A signature (handwritten or otherwise) is not required.
However if a dispute arises, either ...
- 1,141
4
votes
Determine if email from government employee is legally binding
united-states
In most U.S. jurisdictions, a statement of a governmental employee can only have legal effect if the government employee had actual authority to make that decision unilaterally (although ...
- 240k
3
votes
Does typed up notes of an oral conversation make the oral discussion more legally binding?
No
First, a conversation is not a legal process - so it's unclear what you mean by "legally binding".
Now, there could be reasons why what was said in a conversation is legally important and ...
- 227k
3
votes
Does typed up notes of an oral conversation make the oral discussion more legally binding?
Allows less evidentiary doubt on basis of poor recollection so only challenge to undermine conversation contents would be disingenuous/biased/selective minutes. Better would be a verbatim transcript ...
3
votes
Is a text message legally binding?
Is a text message legally binding?
Yes, but the terms of the message need to be clear enough to ascertain the parties' intent at the formation of that contract or agreement.
A contract does not even ...
- 45.5k
3
votes
Is an oral "contract" legally binding?
Although there's already a very good accepted answer, I would like to add some information that might help people understand why things work the way they work.
Contracts are simply wills of parties ...
- 167
3
votes
Are Text Messages Legally Binding Even If I Signed A Contract
This could depend on who reads the messages, since it could be taken either way.
Without seeing the messages, I would assume most people would consider the texts to be working the details out and the ...
- 4,020
3
votes
Accepted
Is it legal to require user to agree to something outside the scope of the service that terms and conditions are supposed to cover?
I am still curious if my fear on giving up too much by accepting that
TOS is groundless or not.
I am not knowledgeable of New Jersey legislation that may render these clauses unenforceable. But ...
- 45.5k
3
votes
Accepted
Is a contract made through social media binding?
The Facebook forum doesn't prevent a contract from being formed. But, for a contract to be formed there must be an affirmative agreement, not silence (at least in cases that aren't between merchants).
...
- 240k
3
votes
Does precedent apply during an appeal?
Yes, yes, and yes
However, in all three cases, it is common for the parties to ask for, or for the judge on their own to grant, a stay pending the outcome of the other appeal. This a practical matter ...
- 227k
2
votes
How to prevent the problem of a document changing its content after you signed it
The USPS and other postal services have created a service called Digital Postmarks or EPCM (Electronic Postal Certification Mark) to address exactly this problem.
Basically you can upload any ...
- 119
2
votes
How to prevent the problem of a document changing its content after you signed it
One common practice is to sign every page on a hard copy and to initial every other page of a hard copy, usually with blue colored ink on a black and white original, and to maintain a copy of the ...
- 240k
2
votes
Are Text Messages Legally Binding Even If I Signed A Contract
Besides what Iñaki Viggers said, you might want to check your signed contract for the standard "Entire agreement" clause. If it's there, then all your relations with the other party would be solely ...
- 505
2
votes
Are editable word documents ('.docx' files) accepted in court as evidence?
If in doubt, why not make PDFs?
PDF software generally has a signature feature. I use foxit, which is free and easy to use, and it has a handy signing tool. You just upload a scanned signature ...
- 864
2
votes
Are editable word documents ('.docx' files) accepted in court as evidence?
Evidence is evidence.
The word document can be evidence of something.
Yes it is true that the document can be forged, modified etc.
But this only affects how much weight is attached to the evidence ...
- 6,177
2
votes
Is an oral "contract" legally binding?
Obviously, it depends on the legislation. In German legislation, an oral contract is binding by default. A contract is defined as
two congruent declarations of intention, issued in regard to each ...
- 143
2
votes
If a receptionist hands a customer a blank screen and tells them to sign - with no explanation - and they sign, have they entered into a agreement?
For all practical purposes, if you signed something twice without seeing what it is, it will be impossible to argue later that you just signed a blank piece of paper/screen. The other party will argue ...
- 10.2k
2
votes
Accepted
Is a job offer letter sent and accepted by email legally binding?
Washington is an at-will employment state, meaning that either the employer or the employee is generally free to terminate the employment relationship at any time, for any reason.
If you send a letter ...
- 61.8k
2
votes
Deed of undertaking between neighbours
In the U.S., the common way to address this would be called a servitude among academics and legal scholars, although it would typically be titled either an "easement", or more likely a "...
- 240k
2
votes
Accepted
Is there a difference between mandating masks and encouraging masks?
is encouragement a recommendation but not a mandated requirement?
According to the commonplace meaning of encouragement, yes, it is nothing more than a recommendation that does not seem to determine ...
- 45.5k
1
vote
Legally binding digital signature
The answer by James K is pretty much correct for contract law, at least in common-law countries; I am not so sure about the civil-law position.
There are, however, situations in which an actual ...
- 115k
1
vote
Accepted
Offering a free service (SaaS) via website as a personal individual person in Germany for everybody (global)
You can offer such services as a private person, but you will have to disclose your address.
First, let's discuss whether this is business activity that needs to be registered. A business activity (...
- 24.1k
1
vote
Are editable word documents ('.docx' files) accepted in court as evidence?
will these documents hold in the court of law?
They could be. It is up to a party to dispute the adversary's evidence regardless of how easy it is to alter that evidence. Absent an objection, the '....
- 45.5k
Only top scored, non community-wiki answers of a minimum length are eligible