Contract Formation, Text Messages

SIGNED BY SILENCE?: Court Finds Consumer Agreed to Arbitration By Failing To Respond to A Text Message– And Its A Little Odd

Troutman Amin LLP on 8/5/2025

Hello from the road! So contract law generally requires a party to manifest their assent to the terms of any agreement. That means while you cannot get away with saying “I didnt read the contract I signed” you generally can...more

You Just Hit “Send.” Did You Also Form a Valid, Binding Contract?

Bowditch & Dewey on 8/2/2024

In Boulay v. Boulay, the Land Court addressed whether email correspondence may constitute a valid, binding contract in the context of a real estate transaction. In Massachusetts, a specific pitfall of negotiations via email...more

Contracts, Signatures, and Smileys: Are Emojis Legally Valid?

Barnea Jaffa Lande & Co. on 9/26/2023

A few weeks ago, a Canadian farmer sent a text message to a company he worked with that included a thumbs-up emoji, which symbolizes approval or agreement. To his surprise, the Canadian court treated this emoji as the...more

Land Court Finds that Texting Can Bind Parties

Bowditch & Dewey on 3/1/2017

The Massachusetts Land Court has held that text messages may form a binding contract in connection with the sale of real estate!! While neither punctuation nor colorful texting acronyms can make this decision more noteworthy...more

LOL! OMG. HUH? Court Finds That Text Message Can Form Binding Contract

Buchalter on 6/24/2016

In the world of Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn, it is no secret that individuals are communicating regularly on their smartphones about their business affairs. Recently, a court addressed the question about whether a text...more

Technology And The Workplace

Fisher Phillips on 5/7/2015

How Email And Texting Are Transforming Business Interactions - The automotive industry has embraced technology. Most dealerships have installed business development centers, and Internet departments to attract the...more

Legislature Enacts “5 Second Rule” For Electronic Contracts To Sell Real Property

Allen Matkins on 7/10/2014

The Statute of Frauds has been a part of Anglo-American jurisprudence for centuries. It made its first appearance in the wake of the English Civil War (yes, they had one too but for very different reasons) when King Charles...more

Contract Formation › Text Messages