Chapter 6 Contracts in Virginia

• Library: Virginia Law and Practice: A Handbook for Attorneys (Virginia CLE) (2020 Ed.)

CHAPTER 6

CONTRACTS IN VIRGINIA

Carrie H. O'Malley
Hirschler Fleischer, P.C. / Fredericksburg

[Page 529]

In Virginia, a contract is "an agreement between two or more persons which creates an obligation to do or not to do a particular thing." ¹ The essential elements of a contract are an offer and an acceptance supported by valid consideration. ² A contract is "a promise or a set of promises for the breach of which the law gives a remedy, or the performance of which the law in some way recognizes as a duty." ³ There is no contract where there is no mutual commitment. An agreement to negotiate at a later date is too indefinite to constitute a binding contract. ⁴

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Notes:

^[1] Ambrose v. Southworth Prods....