4 ms·
$1 is probably a peppercorn payment[1]. A contract for 0€ may well fail to be a valid contract due to a lack of consideration - both sides must offer something
by stordoff 5y ago
$1 is probably a peppercorn payment[1]. A contract for 0€ may well fail to be a valid contract due to a lack of consideration - both sides must offer something of value to the other for a contract to be binding.
It's possible that the rest of the settlement would provide valid consideration, but a nominal payment removes any doubt from the situation.
[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peppercorn_(legal) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peppercorn_(legal)
- fsckboy 5y agoa settlement is not a contract
- freejazz 5y agoPeppercorn payments don't actually happen in the real world. Consideration is never an issue in actual contract litigation and in this case, settling something in exchange for any other benefit (no countersuit, etc) would suffice as consideration.
- jonas21 5y agoI can report that they do actually happen in the real world. I've signed two contracts in the past year that had consideration of $1 written into them (and actually made the $1 payment). Are they necessary? I have no idea, but real lawyers wrote the contracts and apparently thought it was good to have that in there.
- freejazz 5y agoSure, there are plenty of bad attorneys.
- dunham 5y agoThere is also a Feynman anecdote about this (wherein he demanded the dollar that they neglected to pay him): https://www.goodreads.com/quotes/7277192-anyway-smith-told-me-to-sign-some-papers-for-the https://www.goodreads.com/quotes/7277192-anyway-smith-told-m...
- ineedasername 5y agoClearly those real lawyers were just trying to milk you for their % contingency fee on that $1.
- randomswede 5y agoI have a land lease that is literally a peppercorn per year in lease fee.
- denton-scratch 5y agoLiterally? You mean you have to buy a bag of peppercorns, and hand over one of them?
- billpg 5y agoIf whoever-it-is actually demands their peppercorn, yes.
- randomswede 5y agoI offered to come by the leaser's office and hand over enough peppercorns to cover the entire lease period. They declined.
- deleted 5y ago[deleted]