contract

Legal agreement between two or more parties, where each party agrees to do something. For example, a contract of employment is a legal agreement between an employer and an employee and lays out the conditions of employment. Contracts need not necessarily be written; they can be verbal contracts. In consumer law, for example, a contract is established when a good is sold.

A contract made in the proper form may be unenforceable if it is made under a mistake, misrepresentation, duress, or undue influence, or if one of the parties does not have the capacity to make it (for example, minors and people who are insane). Illegal contracts are void, including those to commit a crime or civil wrong, those to trade with the enemy, immoral contracts, and contracts in restraint of trade. Contracts by way of gaming and wagering are also void.

In a contract each party mutually obliges himself or herself to the other for exchange of property or performance for a consideration.