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| {{Infobox Case Brief
| | ''Adams v. Lindsell'', 106 ER 250 (1818). |
| |court=High Court of Justice, King's Bench Division
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| |citation=106 Eng.Rep. 250
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| |date=1818
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| |subject=Contracts
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| |facts=Before 1800, parties signed a contract face-to-face. By the early 1800s, making & accepting [[Contracts/Offer|offer]]s by mail was becoming commonplace.
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| On September 2nd 1817, Mr. Lindsell mailed a letter to Mr. Adams who was a wool manufacturer.
| | '''Facts''': Defendant sent, by mail, an offer to sell wool. Due to Defendant's negligence, the offer was received late. Plaintiff immediately accepted, but Defendant had already sold wool. |
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| Defendant (Lindsell) sent, by mail, an offer to sell wool. Due to Defendant's negligence, the offer was received late on September 5th 1817.
| | '''Issue''': Was Plaintiff's purported acceptance actually an acceptance? |
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| Plaintiff (Adams) immediately accepted on September 5th 1817 & replied via mail. | | '''Holding''': Yes, Plaintiff had accepted. |
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| Lindsell received the Adams mailed reply on September 9th. Defendant (Lindsell) had already sold wool on September 8th.
| | '''Reasons''': There was a "meeting of the minds" as soon as Plaintiff posted his acceptance in the mail. |
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| {{{!}} class="wikitable"
| | '''Rule''': The '''mailbox rule''' states that acceptance takes effect as soon as a letter stating such is posted. |
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| !Date
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| !Action
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| {{!}}September 2nd 1817
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| {{!}}Lindsell (seller of wool) mailed a offer letter to Adams (wool manufacturer & buyer).
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| {{!}}September 5th 1817
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| {{!}}Adams received the letter
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| {{!}}September 5th 1817
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| {{!}}Plaintiff (buyer Adams) immediately accepted to buy a large quantity of sheep wool on September 5th 1817
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| {{!}}-
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| {{!}}September 5th 1817
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| {{!}}Adams replied via mail
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| {{!}}-
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| {{!}}September 7th 1817
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| {{!}}Lindsell (seller) hasn't heard from Adams (buyer)
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| {{!}}September 8th 1817
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| {{!}}Lindsell sold the wool to another buyer (not Adams)
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| {{!}}-
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| {{!}}September 9th 1817
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| {{!}}Lindsell (seller) received the acceptance letter
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| {{!}}}
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| |procedural_history=Adams (buyer of wool; plaintiff) sued Lindsell (seller of wool) for money damages.
| | [[Category:Cases:Contracts]] |
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| Adams (wool manufacturer & buyer) won in the trial court.
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| |issues=Was Plaintiff's (Adams) purported acceptance actually an acceptance?
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| Is an offer accepted when the offeree (buyer Adams) places a letter of acceptance in the mail?
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| |arguments=Defendant Lindsell (seller of wool) argued that no contract had been formed because he hadn't received the reply from Adams (buyer of wool; plaintiff).
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| |holding=Yes, Plaintiff had accepted.
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| An offer made via the postal system is properly accepted when the offeree places a letter accepting the offer in the mail.
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| |reasons=There was a "meeting of the minds" as soon as Plaintiff posted his acceptance in the mail.
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| Lord Ellenborough: The letter of acceptance needn't actually be received by the offeror (Lindsell).
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| |rule=The [https://www.law.cornell.edu/wex/mailbox_rule mailbox rule] states that acceptance takes effect as soon as a letter stating such is posted.
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| |case_text_links={{Infobox Case Brief/Case Text Link
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| |link=https://www.quimbee.com/cases/adams-v-lindsell
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| |source_type=Video summary
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| |case_text_source=Quimbee
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| }}
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| }}
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