A contract is a promise or set of promises for which the law gives a remedy if the terms are breached. The law governing contracts can be found in common and statutory law.

Generally, contracts are governed by common law. The term “common law” refers to general principles of law created by courts. The common law can be found in state and federal court opinions issued by various courts.

Contract law may also be governed by statutory law. The term “statutory law” refers to laws enacted by state and federal legislatures. With regard to contracts, the statute is usually a version of the Uniform Commercial Code or UCC. Many of the contract law provisions of the UCC are found in Article 2 of the UCC. The UCC is a model code that is written as an example that state legislatures can use in enacting their own statutes. Many states have adopted the UCC verbatim. Other states adopt the UCC with slight variations. Some states have not adopted the UCC. Once enacted into law, these statutes are numbered and grouped by topic to make them easy to locate and use.

Next, let’s consider the different types of contracts.