Which type of Contract, Bilateral or Unilateral, is More Common in Business? (Essay Sample)

Contracts
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Contracts
Question 1)
Which type of contract, bilateral or unilateral, is more common in business? Why? Under what circumstance would someone prefer one or the other? What are the advantages of each type for the offeror? For the offeree?
Business transactions are very common when running a business. No matter the type of a business one is running, having and understanding the business contracts is very imperative. The business contracts assist the businesses in solving disputes in case they arise. According to Emanuel (2006), a contract is an agreement between two people. The contract creates an obligation for the parties to do particular things. The bilateral contract is the most basic contract between two people or a group. Some of the examples of the bilateral contracts include ordering food in a restaurant and receiving treatment from a doctor among others. In the business environment, bilateral contracts are mostly used.
According to Emanuel (2006), the unilateral contract is a type of contract that involves an action taken by one person or a group of people. According to the business contract law, the unilateral contract only allows one person to make a promise. A good example of a unilateral contract is the reward contract. If a person misplaces his/her item, they may enter into a unilateral contract and promise a certain amount of money. In this case, there is no specific person that is responsible for finding the item. If a person finds the lost item and brings it to the offeror, the offeror has an obligation to pay the offeree. The offeree may take the offeror to court if he/she refuses to deliver the promise. The main difference between the two contracts is that in the unilateral contract, one party offers a contract while the other one agree and accepts by performing. On the other hand, the bilateral contract requires the two parties to act and give the promises to each other (Emanuel, 2006).
In the business world, the bilateral contracts are mostly used. In the bilateral contract, the parties are obliged to comply with the terms involved. According to the study by Emanuel (2006), most of the business and the personal contract fall under the bilateral contract. The bilateral contract becomes legal binding when the two parties exchange the promises. From the past, the courts have differentiated the two contracts by examining if the two parties gave a consideration (Emanuel, 2006).
There are various advantages of the unilateral contract to the offeror is that he can get many people to participate. For example, if the offeror has lost an item, by offering the unilateral contract, he/she may find the item faster. Additional...