What Is the Legal Effect of a Contract of Adhesion

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The Answer is A contract of adhesion is a contract in which the only choice for one of the parties is between "adhering" to the terms dictated by the other party or not contracting at all. A court may refuse to enforce such an agreement as contrary to public policy. Clauses in fine print or in such technical language that an ordinary person would not understand their meaning have also been stricken on this basis. Unequal bargaining power standing alone is not enough to justify unenforceability, however. It must also appear that the party with superior power used it to take unfair advantage of the other party to the agreement. The courts are especially likely to find such inequality in cases involving consumer contracts with businesses, although numerous cases exist in which contracts between small companies and large industrial giants have been held to be adhesion contracts. Although courts are increasingly willing to prevent oppression and unfair surprise by finding agreements to be contracts of adhesion, they will not use this doctrine to relieve people of their bad bargains.

What Is the Legal Effect of a Contract of Adhesion

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