Which doctrine prevents injustice when a promise is made without consideration and relied upon to the promisee's detriment?

• A. Valuable consideration
• B. Gratuitous promise
• C. Promissory estoppel
• D. Exculpatory clause

Answer: (C)

Promissory estoppel is the idea that we prevent an unjust result when someone makes a promise without giving something in return (no consideration) and the other person relies on that promise to their detriment. Even though there isn’t a bargained-for exchange, the law may enforce the promise to avoid an unfair outcome if the promisee reasonably expected the promise to be binding and acted on it, suffering a clear detriment as a result. The key elements are a definite promise, the promisee’s reasonable and foreseeable reliance, actual reliance causing a detriment, and the lack of an adequate legal remedy otherwise. This doctrine stands to prevent injustice when formal contract requirements aren’t met but enforcing the promise is necessary to avoid an unfair result. A gratuitous promise is typically not enforceable on its own because there’s no consideration, a valuable consideration implies a bargain, and an exculpatory clause is about releasing liability, not about enforcing a promise due to reliance.