Janine was hospitalized with severe abdominal pain and placed in an intensive care unit. her doctor told hospital personnel to order around-the-clock nursing care for janine. at the hospital's request, a nursing services firm, nursing services unlimited, provided two weeks of in-hospital care and, after janine was sent home, two additional weeks of at-home care. during the at-home period of care, janine was fully aware that she was receiving the benefit of the nursing services. nursing services later billed janine $4,000 for the nursing care, but janine refused to pay on the ground that she had never contracted for the services, either orally or in writing. in view of the fact that no express contract was ever formed, can nursing services recover the $4,000 from janine? if so, under what legal theory? discuss.

Issue: Was there an implied contract between Janine and the Nursing Service?

Rule: Contracts may be categorized as an express or implied by the conduct of the parties. In an express contract, the terms of the agreement are fully and explicitly stated in words, oral or written. A signed lease for an apartment or a house is an express written contract. If a classmate calls you on the phone and agrees to buy your textbook from last semester for $45, an express oral contract has been made. A contract that is implied in fact contract differs from an express contract in that the conduct of the parties, rather than their words, creates and defines the terms of the contract. For an implied-in-fact contract toarise, certain requirements must be met. Normally, if the following conditions exist, a court will hold that an implied contract was formed: 1) the plaintiff furnished some service or property. 2) the plaintiff expected to be paid for the service or property, and the defendant knew or should have known that payment was expected. 3) the defendant had a chance to reject the services or property and didn’t. Suppose that you need an accountant to complete your tax return this year. You look through the Yellow Pages and find an accountant at an office in your neighborhood, so you drop by to see her. You go into the accountant’s office and explain your problem, and she tells you what her fees are. The next day you return and give her administrative assistant all the necessary information and documents-canceled checks, W-2 forms, and so on. You then walk out the door without saying anything expressly to the assistant. In this situation, you have entered into an implied-in-fact contract to pay the accountant the usual and reasonable fees for her services. The contract is implied by your conduct and by hers. She expects to be paid for completing your tax return, and by bringing in the records you will need to do the work, you have implied an intent to pay her.