Contracts Commons^™

‘Rule Of Law’ In China: The Confrontation Of Formal Law With Cultural Norms, Larry A. Dimatteo

Cornell International Law Journal

This Article will be one of the first to fully examine the adoption of the first part of China’s long-term quest to enact a grand civil code. It is primarily an examination of the interaction between law and culture— this interaction is most visible when law is transplanted from one legal tradition (Western) into a country of a different legal tradition (Eastern). The General Rules of the Civil Law of the People’s Republic of China took effect on October 1, 2017. This enactment of general principles is the first step in what is expected to take up to five years …

A Pragmatist's View Of Promissory Law With A Focus On Consent And Reliance, Robert A. Hillman

Cornell Law Faculty Publications

This article discusses Professor Nate Oman's excellent new book, "The Dignity of Commerce," which makes an impressive case for how markets can produce "desirable" outcomes for society. In addition to a comprehensive account of what he calls "virtues" of markets, such as their tendency to produce cooperation, trust, and wealth, the book is full of useful and persuasive supporting information and discussions.

Oman is not only a fan of markets, but he asserts that markets are the "center" of contract theory, and provide its normative foundation. Elaborating, Oman concludes that "contract law exists primarily to support markets" and that "contracts …

The Market For Contracts, Geoffrey P. Miller, Theodore Eisenberg

Cornell Law Faculty Publications

Recent empirical work has established that New York supplies the law and forum in nearly half the material commercial contracts of public firms. In this respect New York plays a role for commercial contracts analogous to the role played by Delaware with respect to corporate charters. Is the revealed preference for New York law and forum merely the result of choices made by the contracting parties, or does New York actively compete for this business? This paper describes ways in which New York seeks to attract and retain corporate contracts in competition with other potential providers of law and forum. …

Mandatory Arbitration For Customers But Not For Peers: A Study Of Arbitration Clauses In Consumer And Non-Consumer Contracts, Theodore Eisenberg, Geoffrey P. Miller, Emily Sherwin

Cornell Law Faculty Publications

We conducted a study of contractual practices by well-known firms marketing consumer products, comparing the firms' consumer contracts with contracts the same firms negotiated with business peers. The frequency of arbitration clauses in consumer contracts has been studied before, as has the frequency of arbitration clauses in non-consumer contracts. Our study is the first to compare the use of arbitration clauses within firms, in different contractual contexts.

The results are striking: in our sample, mandatory arbitration clauses appeared in more than three-quarters of consumer contracts and less than one tenth of non-consumer contracts (excluding employment contracts) negotiated by the same …

The Limits Of Behavioral Decision Theory In Legal Analysis: The Case Of Liquidated Damages, Robert A. Hillman

Cornell Law Faculty Publications

Discontent with the apparent tunnel vision of economic analysis of law's rational choice theory, legal scholars recently have turned with enthusiasm to "behavioral decision theory" (BDT) to enrich their understanding of how people make decisions and of the law's effect on human behavior. This article, for the first time, evaluates BDT's potential contribution to legal analysis by focusing on a single, important legal paradox: Despite contract law's freedom of contract paradigm, courts actively and enthusiastically police agreed damages provisions. Although the article finds an important place in legal analysis for this new discipline, the article raises and discusses several obstacles …