2021 Contract Law Question 2 — LawShortcut Independent Model Answer
A wedding dress advertised at €1,000 cash, a reservation until 10am secured by Sharon’s necklace, and an arrival one minute late. Sharon loses the dress but should get the necklace back, and the question turns on the difference between an item held as security and a forfeitable earnest.
Scenario summary
A wedding dress was advertised for sale in a local newspaper: “Wedding dress for sale: €1000 no offers, must pay cash in full”.
Sharon saw it and went to see the seller, Mary. She wanted the dress badly but had not enough cash with her, and asked whether she might come back the next morning with the full price.
Mary was hesitant: she feared Sharon might not return, and that she would meanwhile lose an evening’s sale. Sharon, distraught, asked what it would take for Mary to hold it, and then said: “Mary, please let me come back tomorrow to buy the dress. If you promise that, you can hang on to this necklace of mine.”
Mary agreed and kept the necklace, setting a deadline: Sharon was to be back before 10am the following day, failing which the dress would go back on sale.
Sharon returned at 10:01am. Mary told her the dress had been sold online moments earlier, and that she was keeping the necklace, having held the dress until 10am as agreed. Sharon says the necklace was only ever a sign of good faith.
Candidates are asked to advise Sharon as to her legal rights under the law of contract.
This is a LawShortcut scenario summary written in our own words. For the exact examined wording, use the official King’s Inns paper linked above.
What this model answer covers
Issues and structure addressed in the full LawShortcut model answer:
- Reading the question — two separate claims, and the one phrase that decides the necklace
- Issue 1 — The advertisement: offer or invitation to treat?
- Issue 2 — The reservation: a binding option?
- Issue 3 — Did the option lapse at 10am?
- Issue 4 — Can Mary keep the necklace? Earnest, security and the penalty fallback
- Overall advice to Sharon — no claim to the dress, a good claim to the necklace
- Where the 25 marks live — 5 advertisement, 5 option, 3 lapse, 9 necklace, 3 structure and advice
- Common ways to lose marks
- Authorities relied on, with the point each one is cited for
- The reusable answer structure
Read the complete LawShortcut model answer to this question — reading the question, issue spotting, the applicable law, application to the facts and conclusions — inside the King’s Inns Contract Law Model Answer Vault.
Part of the King’s Inns Contract Law Model Answer Vault — 30 independently authored model answers, 2020—2025.
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