Business Law I Discussion 3
The Doctrine of Equity or Equitable Estoppel permits a court to apply a fairness standard
to a contract dispute. Discuss if the Equity Doctrine should be permitted in a contract case.
First, we need to understand what The Doctrine of Equity is. “Promissory estoppel is an
equity doctrine that permits a court to order enforcement of a contract that lacks
consideration. Promissory estoppel is applied to avoid injustice. It is usually used to
provide a remedy to a party who has relied on another part’s promise but that party has
withdrawn its promise and is not subject to a breach of contract action because
consideration is lacking. The doctrine of promissory estoppel prevents the promisor from
revoking his or her promise based on lack of consideration. Therefore, the person who has
detrimentally relied on the promise for performance may sue the promisor for performance
or other remedy the court feels is fair to award in the circumstances.”
We must also take into account what consideration is. “Consideration must be given before
a contact can exist. Consideration is defined as something of legal value given in exchange
for a promise.”
Although I believe the equity doctrine should be permitted, it might be difficult to apply in
a contract case. It can be tricky to prove that promise was actually made or the fact that
injustice was caused if the promise was not enforced
Retrieved from
Cheeseman, Henry. Business Law. 9th ed. Pearson, 2016. Print.