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Contracts • Terms of the Contract
K#081
Legal Definition
Parol evidence is any oral or written words of a party prior to integration.
Plain English Explanation
Parol evidence is any type of evidence of discussions or information that happened before a contract was finalized. For example, imagine if you went to buy a car and the salesman told you, "If you buy this car today, I'll throw in free car washes for life!" Upon hearing this, you agree to buy the car and sign the contract. Unfortunately for you, the contract doesn't include the part about the free car washes, and it also includes a merger clause that states the contract is final. Suddenly, your conversation with the salesman about the free car washes is "parol evidence," and whether or not it is admissible in court depends on whether you can find an exception to the Parol Evidence Rule.
It happens a lot on exams where there is a contract in place, but one of the parties is trying to use prior discussions as evidence in a lawsuit over the contract.
It happens a lot on exams where there is a contract in place, but one of the parties is trying to use prior discussions as evidence in a lawsuit over the contract.
Hypothetical
Hypo 1: Sam owns a taco cart. Bob wants to have Sam cater his birthday party. Bob and Sam discuss this in person one day where Sam mentions that the price of chicken would be $20. The next day, they exchange emails negotiating terms, in which Sam lets Bob know the price of chicken increased. When the final contract is sent to Bob, it has the price of chicken at $25. Bob signs. Later, Bob sues Sam to try to force the price of chicken to be $20. Result: The previous discussions about pricing and previous negotiations are all parol evidence, which are inadmissible to try to change a term in the final contract, unless you can find a valid exception to the Parol Evidence Rule.
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