Reference no: EM133282757
Lisa is a fashion designer and she wanted to set up her own retail shop to sell her own creations. She managed to find a suitable place for rent, but it needed extensive renovations. She called up her friend, Bonnie, for help. Bonnie owned an interior design business and she was ecstatic to be able to help her friend and make a profit at the same time. Without any delay, both of them made arrangements for Bonnie to visit the rented premises on 1st February to take measurements and thereafter provide a proposal for the renovation works for Lisa's consideration.
On 3rd February, Bonnie prepared a renovation proposal with a price quotation of $15,000 and sent it to Lisa via email. Lisa loved the design concepts that Bonnie prepared, but she had some reservations on the steep pricing that Bonnie quoted. On 5th February, Lisa called Bonnie over her mobile phone to negotiate the pricing for the renovation works. During the phone call, Lisa offered to pay only a sum of $10,000 in total. Bonnie reluctantly agreed to this price, telling Lisa that she is only agreeing to this because they are friends.
The next day, on 6th February, Bonnie sent Lisa the soft copy of the full documentation (including the design proposal and the pricing) via email, for her reference. When Lisa read through the documentation, Lisa found that certain items of the renovation works (such as the installation of new wallpaper) were removed from the original design proposal. Lisa immediately called Bonnie to ask about this, and Bonnie replied that due to the price reduction, she felt that she had no choice but to remove some of the renovation work items. Lisa was deeply disappointed and told Bonnie that she will be finding another interior designer to do the work. Bonnie replied that there is already a contract between them and therefore Lisa cannot back out.
Question: Explain whether there is a valid contract between Lisa and Bonnie. In your answer, you should identify and discuss the four (4) elements of a contract. You should also briefly discuss the legal significance (if any) of Bonnie's email of 6th February (containing the full documentation) that was sent to Lisa.