Legal Definitions - reasonable time

Definition: Reasonable time is a term used in contract law to describe a period by which an act should be performed. It is a vague term that depends on the facts and circumstances surrounding the contract formation.

Examples:

• A construction project that was supposed to be completed in three years but took four years to complete may still be considered to have been completed in a reasonable time if the evidence during the formation of the contract indicated that the parties envisioned the project running through 2005.
• If a tenant is evicted from a property, they are expected to vacate the premises within a reasonable time.
• If a court finds that a publication is libelous, the publisher may be required to retract the publication within a reasonable time.

These examples illustrate that what constitutes a reasonable time depends on the specific circumstances of each case. In the case of the construction project, the evidence during the formation of the contract indicated that the project was expected to take longer than three years. In the case of the tenant, the reasonable time to vacate the premises would depend on factors such as the amount of time needed to find a new place to live. In the case of the publisher, the reasonable time to retract the publication would depend on factors such as the availability of resources to make the retraction.