Law Commons^™

Samaca, Llc, Order On Defendants' Motion For Attorneys' Fees And Expenses And Plaintiff Samaca, Llc's Cross Motion To Compel Arbitration Of Defendant's Motion For Legal Expenses, Alice D. Bonner

Georgia Business Court Opinions

No abstract provided.

Nancy Johnson Et Al., Order Denying Motion To Withdraw As Counsel, Kathy Lee Ellerbee

Georgia Business Court Opinions

No abstract provided.

Nancy Johnson Et Al., Order On Discovery Dispute, Kelly Lee Ellerbee

Georgia Business Court Opinions

No abstract provided.

Bh Hasid Llc, Order On Pending Motions, Alice D. Bonner

Georgia Business Court Opinions

No abstract provided.

Greenlife Energy Solutions, Llc, Order On Motions To Dismiss, Kelly Lee Ellerbe

Georgia Business Court Opinions

No abstract provided.

Contracts Formed By Software: An Approach From The Law Of Mistake, Vincent Ooi

Centre for AI & Data Governance

A ‘Contracting Problem’ arises when software is used to autonomously enter into contracts without human input. Questions arise as to how and whether there can be an expression of an objective intention to be legally bound. This article considers three leading solutions to the Contracting Problem. The ‘Mere Tools Theory’, which views software as ‘mere tools’ of communication, is too harsh as it binds users to any software malfunction. The Agency Approach, which treats software as Electronic Agents, capable of contracting on behalf of their users, is untenable as it ascribes unrealistic characteristics to software. The article submits that the …

The Best Of Times And The Worst Of Times: The Current Landscape Of Mandatory Arbitration Clause Enforcement In Domestic Arbitration, Virginia Neisler

Law Librarian Scholarship

There is nothing new about arbi­tration, a method of alternative dispute resolution designed to settle disputes more efficiently, cheaper, and faster than litigation. Today, mandatory arbitration clauses are ubiquitous in commercial contracts, social media terms and conditions, employment contracts, and more. These contracts, where one party in the weaker position (often a consumer or an employee) must either accept or reject the terms as written with no power to negotiate, are known as contracts of adhesion. The widespread use of arbitration clauses—specifically, pre­dispute, forced arbitration agreements, often including class­action waiv ers found in adhesion contracts—has come under pressure.

Morris Hardwick Schneider, Llc Order On Plaintiff's Motion To Compel, Kelly Lee Ellerbee

Georgia Business Court Opinions

No abstract provided.

Premier Porfolio 2, Llc Order On Motion To Dismiss, Elizabeth E. Long

Georgia Business Court Opinions

No abstract provided.

Drummond Financial Services, Llc, Order On Pending Motions And Discovery Disputes, John J. Goger

Georgia Business Court Opinions

No abstract provided.

Morris Hardwick Schneider, Llc Order Striking Defendant Divot Holdings, Llc's Answer, Kelly Lee Ellerbee

Georgia Business Court Opinions

No abstract provided.

Bronner V. Hardy Et Al., Order On Pending Motions For Summary Judgment, Melvin Westmoreland

Georgia Business Court Opinions

No abstract provided.

Cambridge Swinerton, Llc, Order Denying Defendant New Alenco Windows, Ltd.'S Motion To Transfer Venue, Alice D. Bonner

Georgia Business Court Opinions

No abstract provided.

Contracting Around The Hague Service Convention, Robin Effron, John F. Coyle, Maggie Gardner

Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.

Ideology And Argument Construction In Contract Law, Michael Fischl

Faculty Articles and Papers

I will offer an extended illustration of the demystification link here and will focus on promissory estoppel, a doctrine that receives sustained attention in the typical US Contracts class and has been the focus of a great deal of scholarship, critical and otherwise, for decades. Following this introduction, the essay proceeds in two parts. In Part II, I introduce promissory estoppel the way I do in my classes, contrasting mainstream, legal realist, and critical ‘stories’ about the history and role of the doctrine in American contract law. I warn my students – as I am warning readers here – that …

The Internet Of Torts: Expanding Civil Liability Standards To Address Corporate Remote Interference, Rebecca Crootof

Law Faculty Publications

Thanks to the proliferation of internet-connected devices that constitute the “Internet of Things” (“IoT”), companies can now remotely and automatically alter or deactivate household items. In addition to empowering industry at the expense of individuals, this remote interference can cause property damage and bodily injury when an otherwise operational car, alarm system, or implanted medical device abruptly ceases to function.

Even as the potential for harm escalates, contract and tort law work in tandem to shield IoT companies from liability. Exculpatory clauses limit civil remedies, IoT devices’ bundled object/service nature thwarts implied warranty claims, and contractual notice of remote interference …

Agency: Married Women Traders Of Nantucket, 1765-1865, Mary L. Heen

Law Faculty Publications

Before the enactment of separate property and contract rights for married women, generations of married women in seaport cities and towns conducted business as merchants, traders and shopkeepers. The first part of this article shows how private law facilitated their business activities through traditional agency law, the use of powers of attorney, trade accounts and family business networks. These arrangements, largely hidden from public view in family papers, letters, and diaries, permitted married women to enter into contracts, to buy and sell property, and to appear in court. Private law, like equity, thus provided a more flexible alternative to the …

How To Design And Conduct Negotiation Simulations In Contract Drafting, Naveen Thomas

Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.

The Limits Of Smart Contracts, Jens Frankenreiter

Ira M. Millstein Center for Global Markets and Corporate Ownership

This essay investigates the potential of smart contracts to replace the legal system as an infrastructure for transactions. It argues that (contract) law remains relevant for most transactions even if they are entirely structured by way of smart contract. The reason for this is that the power of smart contracts to create and enforce obligations against attempts by the legal system to thwart their execution is limited. These limitations are most relevant for obligations to perform certain actions outside the blockchain, but also apply to other obligations contingent on facts outside the records stored on the blockchain.

When Forum Selection Clauses Meet Choice Of Law Clauses, Tanya Monestier

Law Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.

A New Look At Contract Mistake Doctrine And Personal Injury Releases, Grace M. Giesel

Brandeis School of Law Faculty Scholarship

One might expect a court to look very skeptically when a party to a personal injury release asks a court to set aside the release. But many courts have reacted atypically when injured parties who have settled their claims have sought to have those releases set aside on the basis of a lack of understanding or knowledge about the injury. Absent facts supporting a claim of fraud or duress, injured parties have turned to the mistake doctrine for relief.

Predictive Contracting, Spencer Williams

Publications

This Article examines how contract drafters can use data on contract outcomes to inform contract design. Building on recent developments in contract data collection and analysis, the Article proposes “predictive contracting,” a new method of contracting in which contract drafters can design contracts using a technology system that helps predict the connections between contract terms and outcomes. Predictive contracting will be powered by machine learning and draw on contract data obtained from integrated contract management systems, natural language processing, and computable contracts. The Article makes both theoretical and practical contributions to the contracts literature. On a theoretical level, predictive contracting …

Data-Informed Duties In Ai Development, Frank A. Pasquale

Faculty Scholarship

Law should help direct—and not merely constrain—the development of artificial intelligence (AI). One path to influence is the development of standards of care both supplemented and informed by rigorous regulatory guidance. Such standards are particularly important given the potential for inaccurate and inappropriate data to contaminate machine learning. Firms relying on faulty data can be required to compensate those harmed by that data use—and should be subject to punitive damages when such use is repeated or willful. Regulatory standards for data collection, analysis, use, and stewardship can inform and complement generalist judges. Such regulation will not only provide guidance to …

Online Dispute Resolution For Smart Contracts, Amy J. Schmitz, Colin Rule

Faculty Publications

Smart contracts built in the blockchain are quietly revolutionizing traditional transactions despite their questionable status under current law. At the same time, disputes regarding smart contracts are inevitable, and par-ties will need means for dealing with smart contract issues. This Article tackles this challenge, and proposes that parties turn to online dispute resolution (“ODR”) to efficiently and fairly resolve smart contract disputes. Furthermore, the Article acknowledges the benefits and challenges of current blockchain ODR start-ups, and proposes specific ideas for how designers could address those challenges and incorporate ODR to provide just resolutions that will not stymie efficiencies of smart …

The New Social Contracts In International Supply Chains, David Snyder

Articles in Law Reviews & Other Academic Journals

This Article considers, from legal, practical, moral, and policy perspectives, Model Contract Clauses (MCCs) to protect the human rights of workers in international supply chains. The product of the ABA Business Law Section Working Group to Draft Human Rights Protections in International Supply Contracts, the MCCs are an effort to provide companies with carefully researched and well-drafted clauses to incorporate human rights policies into supply contracts (purchase orders, master vendor agreements, and the like). The Article discusses the impetus, goals, and strategies of the MCCs and explains the paradigm of the corporate, operational, and political landscape for which they are …

From The Courtroom To The Classroom: How A Litigator Became A Transactional Drafting Professor, Amy Bauer

Publications

No abstract provided.

The Role Of International Rules In Blockchain-Based Cross-Border Commercial Disputes, Tonya M. Evans

Law Faculty Scholarship

[excerpt] The concept of online dispute resolution (ODR) is not new. 1 But, with the advent of Web 3.0, the distributed web that facilitates pseudonymous and cross-border transactions via blockchain's distributed ledger technology, 2 the idea of, and pressing need for, appropriate dispute resolution models for blockchain-based disputes to support this novel system of distributed consensus and trust of which blockchain proponents boast, is a primary concern in rapid development. 3 The common goal of each project is to utilize smart contracts to facilitate "superior, quicker[,] and less expensive proceedings by eliminating so many of the tedious and protracted trappings …

Inclusion Riders And Diversity Mandates, Emily Gold Waldman

Elisabeth Haub School of Law Faculty Publications

In this piece, I situate these sorts of diversity requests within the broader context of other customer/client preferences that implicate Title VII. To be sure, the “inclusion riders” are not literal customer/client requests, but rather requests from celebrities who are themselves being hired by the employer for a specific project. Broadly speaking, however, they raise the same legal issue regarding third-party preferences that implicate protected characteristics under Title VII.

As a starting point, the general rule within employment discrimination law is that customer preferences cannot justify discriminatory treatment by employers. That baseline has led courts to rule that employers cannot, …

Dartmouth College V. Woodward And The Structure Of Civil Society, Ernest A. Young

Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.

To Recognize Or Not? Good Faith Under Nigerian Law Of Contract, Olabisi D. Akinkugbe

Articles, Book Chapters, & Popular Press

Unlike jurisdictions such as Canada and the United Kingdom, Nigerian courts have not engaged with the doctrine of good faith. Similarly, there is a dearth of academic scholarship that examines this aspect of the Nigerian law of contract. In this paper, I examine how the Nigerian courts have operationalized the common law of good faith in the performance of contracts. Rather than suggest that good faith as “an organizing principle” has an internally consistent meaning by which we can transplant the doctrine from one jurisdiction to another, or even apply the so-called duty of honest performance as enunciated by the …