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4.1-11  Duration of Offer

Revised to January 1, 2008

The (offeror: defendant / plaintiff)¹ claims that (his/her/its) offer required that the (offeree: defendant / plaintiff) accept it on or before <date>.  The (offeree: defendant / plaintiff) claims that the (offeror: defendant / plaintiff) did not specify any time for acceptance in the offer.

If you find that the (offeror: defendant / plaintiff) did specify in the offer that acceptance must occur on or before <date>, then in order to form a valid contract, the (offeree: defendant / plaintiff) must have accepted the offer on or before <date>.  If you find that the (offeror: defendant / plaintiff) did not specify a time limit for acceptance of the offer, then the (offeree: defendant / plaintiff) had a reasonable time in which to accept the offer and if (he/she/it) accepted the offer within a reasonable time, then a valid contract existed between the parties.  [What is a reasonable time depends on the surrounding circumstances and the purpose of the contract.]
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¹ The term "offeror" and "offeree" have been inserted above as a guide.  The charge should be given in terms of the "plaintiff" or the "defendant," depending on which one is the offeror and which one the offeree.

Authority

1 A. Corbin, Contracts (Rev. Ed. 1996) § 2.14, p. 195 and § 2.16, pp. 203-205; Eaton Factors Co. v. Bartlett, 24 Conn. Sup. 40, 43, 1 Conn. Cir. Ct. 376, 379 (1962).

Notes

See Time Provisions, Instruction 4.2-9 (concerning contracts to be performed within a reasonable time, and contracts where time is of the essence).