Opinion ID: 810054
Heading Depth: 4
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Bilateral Contract

Text: [2] As an initial matter, we are not persuaded that the plaintiffs have alleged the existence of an offer to enter into a bilateral contract. “A bilateral contract consists of mutual promises made in exchange for each other by each of the two contracting parties.” Sully-Miller Contracting Co. v. Gledson/Cashman Constr., Inc., 126 Cal. Rptr. 2d 400, 403 (Ct. App. 2002) (quoting Corbin on Contracts § 1.23 (rev. ed. 1993)) (internal quotation marks omitted). Both sides of the bargain must have made promises. Here, the plaintiffs have identified an alleged promise by RJR (to allow customers to redeem Camel Cash certificates for rewards), but they have SATERIALE v. R.J. REYNOLDS TOBACCO CO. 12295 not pointed to any promise they made to RJR. Nor do they argue that RJR sought a return promise in exchange for its own promise to allow consumers to exchange C-Notes for merchandise. They argue instead the requirements for a bilateral contract are met because they agreed to certain terms and conditions when they enrolled in the Camel Cash program. See Appellants’ Reply Brief at 9; Compl. ¶ 26. Nothing in the complaint, however, suggests that these terms were anything more than conditions that the plaintiffs were required to satisfy to trigger RJR’s duty to perform, as opposed to promises that the plaintiffs were bound to perform to avoid incurring their own contractual liability. “A condition is an event . . . which must occur . . . before performance under a contract becomes due.” Restatement (Second) of Contracts (hereinafter Restatement) § 224 (1981). A promise, by contrast, “is an express or implied declaration in a contract that raises a duty to perform and subjects the promisor to liability for breach for failure to do so.” 13 Richard A. Lord, Williston on Contracts (hereinafter Williston) § 38:5 (4th ed. 2012). The plaintiffs have not alleged that they were bound to do anything. They therefore have not alleged the existence of an offer to enter into a bilateral contract.1