The requirements when parties are entering a contract
One of the requirements, when parties are entering a contract, is capacity, which is both mental and age. If an agreement is joined by a party which does not have a mental capacity, it means that that contract is unenforceable by law (Zhang, 2019). In the case were Claire is severely injured and enters into an agreement that makes it possible for her to be flown for treatment, she can argue that at the time when she made the contract, she was not in her mental capacity due to the injuries she had acquired as a result of the accident. Secondly, she can argue that there was some misrepresentation while the contract was being made.
Another argument that Claire can put into ensuring that the contract is voided is that the agreement was a fraud (Snyder & Burge, 2017). This is because when the helicopter company entered the contract with Claire, the company did not disclose the amount of money that Claire was supposed to pay for the helicopter expenses. The law states that failure to disclose any material information during the contract process is a fraud.
The contract between Sheila and Bobby is like a double-edged sword in that court can enforce the liquidated damages or not, depending on how the two parties present their case. If Sheila argues that the payments were not made on time and the fourth payment was not even done at all, then the court can consider that as liquidated damage to Sheila’s business and enforce that Bobby pays the $100,000 that the parties agreed would be the damages to be paid as liquidated damages. On the other hand, Bobby can argue that the contract requires there to be a minimum of six shipments between them, and only four have been made so far. In that case, Bobby has not violated any contract since there are two more shipments that Bobby needs to get before making the full payment for the six shipments. With that argument, there is no violation of the contract, and the court cannot enforce any charges.
References
Snyder, F. G., & Burge, M. E. (2017). American Contract Law for a Global Age: Chapters 1 and 2.
Zhang, M. (2019). Contract Defenses—Validity Issues. In Chinese Contract Law-Theory & Practice (pp. 178-239). Brill Nijhoff.