Law Commons^™

Contract Law—Conspicuous Arbitration Agreements In Online Contracts: Contradictions And Challenges In The Uber Cases, Matthew Hoffman

University of Arkansas at Little Rock Law Review

No abstract provided.

The Contract Interpretation Policy Debate: A Primer, Joshua M. Silverstein

Faculty Scholarship

Contract interpretation is one of the most significant areas of commercial law. As a result, there is an extensive academic and judicial debate over the optimal method for construing agreements. Throughout this exchange, scholars and courts have advanced a wide array of conceptual, theoretical, and empirical arguments in support of the two primary schools of interpretation— textualism and contextualism—as well as various hybrid positions. This Essay is intended to serve as a primer on those arguments.

Contract Law—Arkansas’S Un-American Approach To Attorney’S Fees For Breach Of Contract, Michael J. Berry

University of Arkansas at Little Rock Law Review

No abstract provided.

Contract Interpretation And The Parol Evidence Rule: Toward Conceptual Clarification, Joshua M. Silverstein

Faculty Scholarship

Contract interpretation is one of the most important topics in commercial law. Unfortunately, the law of interpretation is extraordinarily convoluted. In essentially every American state, the jurisprudence is riddled with inconsistency and ambiguity. This causes multiple problems. Contracting parties are forced to expend additional resources when negotiating and drafting agreements. Disputes over contractual meaning are more likely to end up in litigation. And courts make a greater number of errors in the interpretive process. Together, these impacts result in significant unfairness and undermine economic efficiency. Efforts to remedy the doctrinal incoherence are thus warranted.

The goal of this Article is …

Contract Interpretation Enforcement Costs: An Empirical Study Of Textualism Versus Contextualism Conducted Via The West Key Number System, Joshua M. Silverstein

Faculty Scholarship

This Article sets forth an empirical study of a central issue in the judicial and academic debate over the optimal method of contract interpretation: Whether “textualism” or “contextualism” best minimizes contract enforcement costs. The study measured enforcement costs in twelve ways. Under each of those measures, there was no statistically significant difference in the level of interpretation litigation between textualist and contextualist regimes. Accordingly, the study finds no support for either the textualist hypothesis that contextualism has higher enforcement costs or the contextualist counter-hypothesis that textualism has higher enforcement costs.

The study herein was conducted via the West Key Number …

Contract And Property Law—Fee-Shifting Statutes And Landlord-Tenant Law—A Call For The Repeal Of The English Rule "Loser Pays" System Regarding Contract Disputes And Its Effect On Low-Income Arkansas Tenants, Stephanie Mantell

University of Arkansas at Little Rock Law Review

No abstract provided.

Using The West Key Number System As A Data Collection And Coding Device For Empirical Legal Scholarship: Demonstrating The Method Via A Study Of Contract Interpretation, Joshua M. Silverstein

Faculty Scholarship

Empirical research is an increasingly important type of legal scholarship. Such research generally requires the collection and coding of large quantities of data. These tasks pose critical challenges for legal scholars. Most crucially, they are often resource-intensive. The primary purpose of this article is to explain how researchers can use the West Key Number System to dramatically streamline the process of data collection and coding. The article accomplishes this, in part, through a demonstration: it employs the Key Number System to conduct an empirical study of contract interpretation.

Contract interpretation is one of the most significant areas of commercial law. …

Contract Resurrected! Contract Formation: Common Law – Ucc – Cisg, Sarah Howard Jenkins

Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.

Contract Law—No Faith In Arkansas’S Approach To The Implied Duty Of Good Faith. Arkansas Research Medical Testing, Llc V. Osborne, 2011 Ark. 158, 2011 Wl 1423993., Kathleen Lestage

University of Arkansas at Little Rock Law Review

No abstract provided.

Solidifying Arkansas's Liquidated Damage Law After S.O.G.-San-Ore-Gardner V. Missouri Pacific Railroad Co.: It's Not All Water Under The Bridge, David C. Jung

University of Arkansas at Little Rock Law Review

The construction of the Benzal Bridge over the White River in rural Arkansas brought about years of litigation between Missouri Pacific Railroad Company and contractor San Ore-Gardner, the crux of which was whether the liquidated damages provision in the parties' contract was enforceable. The liquidated damages provision at issue provided that San Ore-Gardner would be liable to Missouri Pacific Railroad Company for damages in the amount of $600 per day if performance of the contract was not completed within the specified time period. Although Missouri Pacific Railroad Company did contribute to the over two year delay in completion of the …

An Empirical Study Of Predispute Mandatory Arbitration Clauses In Social Media Terms Of Service Agreements, Michael L. Rustad, Richard Buckingham, Diane D’Angelo, Katherine Durlacher

University of Arkansas at Little Rock Law Review

This Article is the first empirical study of the use of predispute mandatory arbitration clauses by social networking sites (SNSs) and sheds light on whether SNSs are using arbitration clauses strategically in order to complete a "liability-free" zone in cyberspace. Our empirical findings reveal that SNS arbitration clauses contravene many of the basic principles deemed indispensable for a fundamentally fair process for consumers to obtain civil recourse for recognized torts and remedies for contract disputes. Congress needs to prohibit predispute mandatory arbitration clauses in terms of service agreements and privacy policies.

Tort Law—Tortious Interference With Business Expectancy – A Trap For The Wary And Unwary Alike, Larry Watkins

University of Arkansas at Little Rock Law Review

Despite remaining stable and unchanged over the last decade, tortious interference has also remained problematic in Arkansas. Although tortious interference with contract in Arkansas suffers from many ailments, this note focuses on interference with business expectancy, discussing interference with contract only as necessary. Specifically, the note argues that tortious interference in Arkansas should be formally separated into two distinct rules—interference with contract and interference with business expectancy—in order to keep courts from mixing terms and standards from both rules when addressing only one cause of action. This note further proposes that the improper element of tortious interference in Arkansas should …

Civil Procedure And Contract Law—Contractual Forum-Selection Clauses In Erie Cases: More Than Substance Or Procedure, James C. Mcneal

University of Arkansas at Little Rock Law Review

The enforceability of forum-selection clauses is one of the most litigated jurisdictional issues in federal district courts. In a globalized society, forum-selection clauses reduce uncertainty. However, they present unique problems and, although they are liberally enforced by state and federal courts, forum-selection clauses are not always enforced by the forum court. Enforcement of forum-selection clauses is especially complex in diversity actions in federal court.

Forum-selection clauses appear substantive and often have substantive effects; however, they operate procedurally. Federal courts unanimously hold that the validity of a forum-selection clause is a procedural question and therefore the question of validity is decided …

Why Doctors Shouldn't Practice Law: The American Medical Association's Misdiagnosis Of Physician Non-Compete Clauses, Robert E. Steinbuch

Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.

Contract Law—The Collision Of Tort And Contract Law: Validity And Enforceability Of Exculpatory Clauses In Arkansas. Jordan V. Diamond Equipment, 2005 Wl 984513 (2005)., John G. Shram

University of Arkansas at Little Rock Law Review

No abstract provided.

Contracting Out Of Article 2: Minimizing The Obligation Of Performance & Liability For Breach, Sarah Howard Jenkins

Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.

Contracting Out Of The Ucc, Sarah Howard Jenkins

Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.

Ethics And Professional Responsibility—Contingency Fees—An Attorney's Right Of Recovery When Discharged From A Contingent Fee Contract In Arkansas. Salmon V. Atkinson, 355 Ark., 137 S.W.3d 383 (2003), Eric C. Freeby

University of Arkansas at Little Rock Law Review

No abstract provided.

The Shackles Of Covenant Marriage: Who Holds The Keys To Wedlock, Chauncey E. Brummer

University of Arkansas at Little Rock Law Review

No abstract provided.

Arbitration, Labor Contracts, And The Ada: The Benefits Of Pre-Dispute Arbitration Agreements And An Update On The Conflict Between The Duty To Accommodate And Seniority Rights, Jan William Sturner

University of Arkansas at Little Rock Law Review

No abstract provided.

Tort Law—Tortious Interference With Contract: The Arkansas Supreme Court Clarifies Who Has The Burden And What They Have To Prove. Mason V. Wal-Mart Stores, Inc., 333 Ark. 3, 969 S.W.2d 160 (1998)., Odette Woods

University of Arkansas at Little Rock Law Review

No abstract provided.

Arkansas's Revised Article 3: User Caution Advised, Sarah Howard Jenkins

University of Arkansas at Little Rock Law Review

No abstract provided.

Contracts—The Trend Toward Legal Realism. Shearson Lehman Cmo, Inc. V. Tcf Banking & Savings And Teachers Insurance & Annuity Association V. Tribune Co., 670 F. Supp. 491 (S.D.N.Y. 1987)., Janne G. Siegel

University of Arkansas at Little Rock Law Review

No abstract provided.

Consequential Damages In Contracts For The International Sale Of Goods And The Legacy Of Hadley, Arthur Murphey

Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.

Arkansas Courts And Covenants Not To Compete, John R. Pagan

University of Arkansas at Little Rock Law Review

No abstract provided.

The Decline Of The Contract Market Damage Model, James J. White

University of Arkansas at Little Rock Law Review

No abstract provided.

The Arkansas Law Of Oil And Gas: Chapter V, Susan Webber Wright

University of Arkansas at Little Rock Law Review

No abstract provided.

Contracts—Covenants Not To Compete Ancillary To The Sale Of A Business—Fifteen-Year Restraint Is Reasonable, Martha Jett Mcalister

University of Arkansas at Little Rock Law Review

No abstract provided.

The Law Of Construction Bonds In Arkansas: A Review, David G. Paul

University of Arkansas at Little Rock Law Review

No abstract provided.

The Lemon And Its Rejection: Code Language And Its Misconstruction, Janet A. Flaccus

University of Arkansas at Little Rock Law Review

No abstract provided.