Question

On 1 March, Ben, a science lecturer at a local university (NWK), sent a letter by post to Ian, a local astronomy expert, inviting Ian to speak to Ben’s class. The letter said:
“I will pay you $1,000 to speak to my class on 1 June. Please respond to me by 1 May if you accept.”
The next day, on 2 March, Ian became aware of a better speaking opportunity at a local business seminar tentatively scheduled for 1 June. He immediately sent the following email to Ben:
“I would have enjoyed speaking to your class on 1 June. However, I’m likely to have another commitment on that day, so it is likely that I will not be available. I will let you know if things change. Thank you.”
Ben received the email immediately and read it. Later that day, Ben identified another potential speaker, Sharon, who was listed on the webpage of another university nearby (SWK) as a staff member with expertise in astronomy. He clicked on her email address and sent her a message in which he offered Sharon $1,000 to speak to his class. Sharon accepted by email the next day. Sharon did not realise the staff list had her listed as having astronomy expertise; she was actually an expert in astrology. Ben expected an astronomy lecture, but Sharon incorrectly believed the desired topic was astrology.
Ian was not selected to talk to the people at the business seminar. He sent an email to Ben in which he accepted Ben’s invitation, but as it went to Ben’s spam folder, Ben did not see it. On 1 June, both Ian and Sharon showed up to speak to Ben’s class. Ben told Ian that he was not needed. Ian angrily told Ben that he would sue for breach of contract.
After Ian left, Sharon began setting up her astrology charts and announced that she would provide free fortune telling after her lecture. Ben realized that Sharon was not an astronomy expert and told her he would not pay her for an astrology lecture. Sharon told Ben, “I’m going to sue you for my money.” Ben responded, “You’re not an astronomy expert as I thought and, besides, our deal wasn’t in writing.”

Required to write in 500 words plz (no copy paste) (Please give references)

Sharon brings a claim for breach of contract against Ben. Discuss whether Ben has any defences to the claim and whether Sharon is likely to succeed with her claim

Answer 1

Ans) As per the above scenario, Ben intended to send an email to Sharon after finding him on the web page of SWK a university where sharon was added as a staff member with an expertise in the area of astronomy , the same subject Ben needed an expert in , so he went on offering her to pay $1000 for speaking in his place for his class of astronomy.
As Ben has sent an email to sharon offering her to speak for him and sharon has duly accepted the offer , thus it is clearly evident that this email as an offer and Sharon replying to it the other day as an acceptance has given a rise to a contract under the Section 13 of electronic transations act.
Both the parties have agreed to the terms like date , time, monetary value etc , thetefore this readiness has given rise to the binding Contract under which both parties are supposed under law to discharge their obligation duly, the failure of which by any party will result in breacg of contract. Therefore if any one among the both will refuse to perform his duty irrespective of what circumstances (other than mentioned under mercantile law) will not nullify the obligation or duty.
Argument to support :
The agreement between Sharon and Ben can be identified as a contract because of the following reasons :

Offer:
The email can be said as an offer because the offeree has with clear intention invited the other party for entering into an agreement by specifying the date, time and value.

Valid Acceptance :
The reply of sharon in the form of email can be identified as a valid acceptance .

Reulting in a binding of contract , as both the parties have agreed and Are thus bound by contract evidenced by email.

But as it turns out that sharon actually was an expert in astrology , thus not required by ben , so ben refuses to pay him as he was not apt for the class.
From this situation it can clearly concluded that since now both the parties are acknowledged to be in a binding contract , thus ben cannot refuse to pay him as he is supposed to discharge the duty.

Reasons:
Sharon will be be able to succeed with her claim for breach of contract as during mentioning the specifics such as $1000 or date, Ben did not mentioned the subject expert he needed , if he had mentioned specifically that he exclusively needed expert in astronomy , the situation might have been different
As sharon was ignorant about this fact and thought he had been approached for his expertise in astrology , thus agrred
Moreover sharon was also unware about the fact that websit of his univ has put her into the category of astronomy.

Conclusion:
Thus it can be concluded that Sharon has full right to claim breach of contact against ben and thus is likely suceed to claim.
On àccount of email of an offer and email of an acceptance acting as an evidence.

Defences of ben :
Ben might claim that his actual requirement of an expert in astronomy could not be fulfilled so itbis not genuine for him to pay money for an unfufilled actual duty that was to be performed
Moreover he can claim that website had sharon added as an expert in astronomy thetefore he is not at fault but the university is. Thus he had agreed to pay $1000 for an astronomical expert and not to an astrologer.

References:

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Uniform_Electronic_Transactions_Act

https://www.toppr.com/guides/business-laws/indian-contract-act-1872-part-i/essentials-of-a-contract/

https://www.upcounsel.com/cause-of-action-breach-of-contract

Dear student i assure you the work is 100 % original work. I could not give more references as i have written based on my knowledge and expertise, but i tried my best.

the required word count is also nearly attained

good luck ..

thankyou :)

Sorry for any typing mistakes