agreement [English]

InterPARES Definition

n. ~ 1. A shared understanding of expectations between two or more entities as to the parties' rights and obligations. – 2. A document or other expression of such an understanding.

General Notes

Agreements, unlike contracts, do not necessarily include language that makes them legally binding.

Other Definitions

  • Black's 9th 2009 (†382 p. 78): 1. A mutual understanding between two or more persons about their relative rights and duties regarding past or future performances; a manifestation of mutual assent by two or more persons. – 2. The parties' actual bargain as found their language or by implication from other circumstances, including course of dealing, usage of trade, and course of performance.

Citations

  • Black's 9th 2009 (†382 p. 78): Citing UCC §1-201(3): The term 'agreement,' although frequently used as synonymous with the word 'contract,' is really an expression of greater breadth of meaning and less technicality. Every contract is an agreement, but not every agreement is a contract. In its colloquial sense, the term 'agreement' would include any arrangement between two or more persons intended to affect their relationship (whether legal or otherwise) to each other. An accepted invitation to dinner, for example, would be an agreement in this sense; but it would not be a contract, because it would neither be intended to create, nor would it in fact create, any legal obligation between the parties to it. (†1937)
  • Bushey et al. 2016 (†755 ): · Is the effective start date of the agreement clearly stated? · Is there an explanation of circumstances in which the services could be suspended? · Is there an explanation of circumstances in which the services could be terminated? · Is there an explanation of notification, or an option to subscribe to a notification service, in the event of changes made to the terms governing the service? (†1890)
  • Bushey, et al. 2015 (†767 p. 149): Some boilerplate contracts, without additional fee-based services, are ineffective at meeting the recordkeeping needs of organizations and institutions operating within specific legal requirements. While some of the agreements do touch on the needs of records management and preservation, these sections of the agreements clearly aim, unsurprisingly, to protect the service provider rather than the client and its records needs. (†1938)