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Full-Text Articles in Law

Standard-Form Contracting In The Electronic Age, Robert A. Hillman, Jeffrey J. Rachlinski May 2002

Standard-Form Contracting In The Electronic Age, Robert A. Hillman, Jeffrey J. Rachlinski

Cornell Law Faculty Publications

The development of the Internet as a medium for consumer transactions creates a new question for contract law. In this Article, Professors Robert Hillman and Jeffrey Rachlinski address whether the risks imposed on consumers by Internet boilerplate requires a new lens through which courts should view these types of contracts. Their analysis of boilerplate in paper and Internet contracts examines the social, cognitive, and rational factors that affect consumers' comprehension of boilerplate and compares business strategies in presenting it. The authors conclude that the influence of these factors in Internet transactions is similar to that in proper transactions. Although the …


Ethics Of Enterprise Liability In Product Design And Marketing Litigation, James A. Henderson Jr. May 2002

Ethics Of Enterprise Liability In Product Design And Marketing Litigation, James A. Henderson Jr.

Cornell Law Faculty Publications

American courts talk as though they are imposing strict enterprise liability on product manufacturers, but in truth they do so only with respect to manufacturing defects. In product design and marketing litigation, manufacturers' liability is based on fault. The reason why strict liability is inappropriate for the generic product hazards associated with design and marketing is that, in sharp contrast to manufacturing defects, the conditions necessary for insurance to function are not satisfied. Users and consumers control generic product risks to a sufficiently great extent that any insurance scheme based on strict enterprise liability would be destroyed by combinations of …