2025 Contract Law Question 1 — LawShortcut Independent Model Answer
An email offering €10,000 for a website redesign, work begun before any reply, a thumbs-up emoji, a withdrawal on 12 June, and a promise of a week at a lake house made over dinner. The richest question in the set — six issues across formation, consideration and intention, for 50 marks.
Scenario summary
Cathal runs a financial services firm in Dublin with clients abroad. At a dinner party on 4 February he fell into conversation with his friend Brandon, a freelance web developer, about giving his website a fresh design. Cathal told him that if he ever did hire him for the job, Brandon could have a week of his choosing at Cathal’s lake house in Longford.
Nothing further happened until 1 June, when Cathal emailed Brandon to say he had decided to go ahead. He asked Brandon to redesign the site, offered €10,000 if the work was finished by 15 July, and stipulated that the site had to be consistent with both EU and US law. The email closed by asking Brandon to let him know if that worked for him.
Brandon read the email the same day but sent no reply. On 3 June he quietly began work — initial design drafts, and research into the US rules — hoping to impress Cathal. Cathal knew nothing of this.
On 5 June Brandon emailed back: “Sounds good. I am on it!” He said he expected to be finished by 10 July, and added that he still had to finish checking which US law applied to see whether he could do that part. Cathal answered on 10 June with a thumbs-up emoji. By that date Brandon had already completed a substantial part of the redesign.
On 12 June Cathal learned that his niece Everly was setting up as a website designer. She offered to do the redesign for €5,000 and assured him it would be US-compliant, having interned with a major US firm. Delighted, Cathal messaged Brandon telling him not to worry about the redesign, as he had found someone who knew the US regulations, and thanked him for considering it.
Brandon, shocked, replied by emailing over the finished redesign. He demanded payment in full for his time and the week at the lake house. Cathal refused, maintaining that no binding contract had ever been formed.
Candidates are asked to advise Cathal as to his legal position under the law of contract, and whether he is liable to Brandon for any work undertaken.
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
- Issue 1 — The 1 June email: offer or invitation to treat?
- Issue 2 — Acceptance: silence, mere inquiry and the thumbs-up
- Issue 3 — The 12 June message: revocation or repudiatory breach?
- Issue 4 — Consideration and the work begun on 3 June
- Issue 5 — Intention to create legal relations, and what Brandon can recover
- Issue 6 — The lake house: a promise made over dinner
- Overall advice to Cathal
- Where the 50 marks live
- Authorities relied on
- The reusable answer structure
- Common ways to lose marks
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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