2025 Contract Law Question 3 — LawShortcut Independent Model Answer
Kevin, visibly drunk, agrees to buy a vase for €5,000 from an acquaintance who tells him it is a bargain. It is worth exactly what he paid. A 25-mark question on the two-limb intoxication test and why the absence of a bargain matters less than it looks.
Scenario summary
Kevin, a marketing executive, spent several hours at a work celebration in a local pub. He drank a significant amount of alcohol and by the end of the evening was noticeably intoxicated.
In that state he was approached by Erin, an acquaintance who ran an antiques business. She told him she needed cash quickly and asked whether he would buy a Ming vase from her at a knock down price of €5,000 — far below, she said, what she would ordinarily sell it at.
Slurring his speech and struggling to remain balanced, Kevin agreed. He signed a handwritten contract on a napkin confirming the sale, and transferred €5,000 to Erin using the banking app on his phone.
The following morning his recollection of the evening was sketchy. The transfer showing on his phone told him what he had done. When he looked up what the vase was worth, the figure was €5,000 — so he had got no bargain at all, and he did not want the vase.
Candidates are asked to advise Kevin whether this contract is valid at law.
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 — Capacity: was Kevin too intoxicated to be bound?
- Issue 2 — Unconscionable bargain: the fair price defeats it
- Issue 3 — Misrepresentation: a secondary route
- Overall advice to Kevin
- Where the 25 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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