---
title: "Quasi-Contract"
type: Legal Term
source: https://casebriefly.com/legal-terms/quasi-contract
---

# Quasi-Contract

A quasi-contract (or contract implied in law) is not a true contract but a legal fiction imposed by courts to prevent unjust enrichment when one party confers a benefit on another without a formal agreement. The remedy is restitution — the party who conferred the benefit may recover its reasonable value (quantum meruit). Quasi-contractual recovery is available even when the parties did not intend to contract, and it serves as an equitable backstop.

## Related Terms

- unjust-enrichment
- promissory-estoppel
- consideration

## Related Cases

- bailey-v-west
- nursing-care-services-v-dobos
- united-states-v-algernon-blair

## Example

A doctor renders emergency medical services to an unconscious accident victim. Although no contract exists, the doctor may recover the reasonable value of the services on a quasi-contractual theory.

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Source: [Quasi-Contract — CaseBriefly](https://casebriefly.com/legal-terms/quasi-contract)