LAW 122 Lecture Notes - Lecture 8: Estoppel, Himalaya Clause

• School: Ryerson University
• Department: Law and Business
• Course: LAW 122
• Professor: Leigh Lampert

Document Summary

Consideration exists when a party either gives (or promises to give) a benefit to someone else or suffers a detriment to themselves. Gratuitous promise a promise for which nothing of legal value is given in exchange. Sufficient consideration may be almost anything of value: forbearance to sue a promise to not pursue a lawsuit. This is sufficient consideration if the claim (that the plaintiff will win) is valid. Courts will not enforce this if the party that threated to sue did not honestly believe that they had a valid claim. Adequate consideration has essentially the same value as the consideration for which it is exchanged. Although a contract must be sufficient, it does not have to be adequate. Lawyers call this the peppercorn theory two people create an agreement by exchanging a peppercorn for a horse. The peppercorn has some value but not as high as a horse.