Felony murder is a killing that occurs during the commission or attempted commission of an inherently dangerous felony, including burglary, arson, rape, robbery, or kidnapping (BARRK).

Malice aforethought may be established by: (1) intent to kill; (2) intent to cause serious bodily harm; (3) reckless indifference to an extreme risk to human life (depraved heart murder); or (4) felony murder.

Common law murder is the unlawful killing of another person with malice aforethought.

Second-degree murder includes all murders that do not qualify as first-degree murder.

First-degree murder is the deliberate and premeditated killing of another person.

A novation occurs when all parties to a contract agree to discharge one party from the agreement and substitute a new party in that party's place, releasing the original party from further liability.

When a licensing statute is intended primarily to raise revenue rather than protect the public, a contractor's failure to obtain the required license generally will not render the contract unenforceable. Thus, a client ordinarily may not avoid payment by claiming the contract is illegal solely because the contractor lacked the license.

When a contract fails or is unenforceable, a plaintiff may recover in restitution to prevent unjust enrichment. Restitution requires: (1) the plaintiff conferred a non-gratuitous benefit upon the defendant, (2) the defendant knew of and accepted or retained the benefit under circumstances indicating payment was expected, and (3) the defendant would be unjustly enriched if permitted to retain the benefit without compensating the plaintiff.

An exception to the preexisting duty rule applies to promises involving debts barred by law, such as defaulted or time-barred debts, where a new promise to pay may be enforceable even without new consideration.

A delegation is the transfer of contractual duties from one party to another. Typically, the obligor, or delegator, owes a duty of performance to the obligee but transfers that duty to a delegatee. Generally, contractual duties may be delegated unless: (1) the duties involve special skill, judgment, or personal services; (2) the delegation would materially change the obligee's expected performance; (3) the obligee placed special trust or confidence in the delegator; or (4) the contract expressly prohibits delegation.

A gratuitous promise is a promise made without consideration, where the promisor receives nothing in exchange for the promise. Because there is no bargained-for exchange, a gratuitous promise is generally unenforceable unless an exception applies, such as promissory estoppel.

A contractual clause prohibiting assignment of "the contract" is generally interpreted as prohibiting only the delegation of duties, not the assignment of rights. Thus, a clause restricting assignment ordinarily does not prevent the transfer of rights such as the right to payment. In such cases, the assignor retains the power to assign the rights, even if doing so breaches the contract, and the obligor may sue the assignor for that breach.

An assignment is the transfer of contractual rights from one party to another. In this arrangement, the obligor owes performance to the assignor, who then transfers the right to receive that performance to the assignee. Generally, all contractual rights are assignable except those that: (1) would materially alter the obligor's duties or increase the obligor's risk, (2) involve future rights arising from future contracts, or (3) are prohibited by law.

Fraudulent misrepresentation occurs when a defendant knowingly makes a false representation of material fact with the intent to induce the plaintiff's reliance, and the plaintiff reasonably relies on the misrepresentation to their detriment. Because actual harm is required, nominal damages are not available.

When expectation damages are too uncertain or speculative to calculate, a plaintiff may instead recover reliance damages based on expenditures reasonably made in reliance on the contract. Reliance damages compensate the plaintiff for the costs incurred and are intended to place the plaintiff in the position they would have occupied had the contract never been formed.

Expectation damages place the nonbreaching party in the position they would have occupied had the contract been fully performed, including any profits that were reasonably expected under the agreement.

Anticipatory repudiation occurs when a party clearly communicates, before performance is due, that they are unwilling or unable to perform under the contract. The nonbreaching party may then: (1) treat the repudiation as an immediate breach and sue at once, (2) suspend performance and wait until performance is due before suing, (3) treat the repudiation as a mutual rescission and regard the contract as discharged, or (4) ignore the repudiation and urge the other party to perform.

A party with reasonable grounds for insecurity about the other party's performance may demand adequate assurances of performance. If adequate assurances are not provided within a reasonable time, the requesting party may treat the failure as an anticipatory repudiation of the contract.

A plaintiff may recover under promissory estoppel when: (1) the plaintiff reasonably and foreseeably relied on the promise to their detriment, (2) the promisor should reasonably have expected the promise to induce such reliance, and (3) enforcement of the promise is necessary to avoid injustice.

UCC Article 2 permits an acceptance to include additional or different terms without constituting a rejection of the offer. Additional terms proposed by the offeree become part of the contract only if: (1) both parties are merchants, (2) the additional terms do not materially alter the agreement, (3) the offer does not expressly limit acceptance to its own terms, and (4) the offeror does not object to the additional terms within a reasonable time.