Law Commons^™

Doctors, Hmos, Erisa, And The Public Interest After Pegram V. Herdrich, Jeffrey W. Stempel, Nadia Von Magdenko

Scholarly Works

The Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 was enacted in the wake of highly publicized pension disasters in order to protect employee pension rights. Born as a piece of pro-worker legislation, it initially was criticized by business groups as a cause of bureaucratic arteriosclerosis that was worse than the disease of pension failures. Even worse, it prompted many employers to consider dispensing with pension plans altogether rather than struggle with the administrative and financial obligations of ERISA. Business, labor, and the public all complained about the law's complexity. It even became something of a national joke as regulators took …

Recent Case Developments, Jeffrey W. Stempel

Scholarly Works

Recent case developments in Insurance Law in the years 2000 and 2001.

Finding Fault With Wonnell's "Two Contractual Wrongs", George M. Cohen

San Diego Law Review

Professor Christopher Wonnell's excellent paper, Expectation, Reliance, and the Two Contractual Wrongs,' makes two basic points,

both of which I find convincing, but neither of which contract scholars generally appreciate and accept. The first point, largely descriptive and so less controversial, is that the concepts of expectation and reliance are not simply two different ways of conceiving compensation; rather, they are two different ways of conceiving contractual wrongs from both a moral and an economic perspective.2 From a moral perspective, expectation damages remedy the wrong of breaching a contractual promise that should have been performed. Reliance damages remedy the wrong …

Expectation, Reliance, And The Two Contractual Wrongs, Christopher T. Wonnell

San Diego Law Review

Expectation and reliance are concepts that continue to vie for priority as core organizing principles of contract law. The expectation and reliance interests appear to differ from each other both in how they conceptualize the essential wrong alleged in contract litigation and in how they would propose to remedy that wrong. Expectation views the wrong as the breaking of a promise, and seeks to remedy that wrong by awarding specific or substitutionary relief that will give the promisee the benefit of that promise.' Reliance views the wrong as the making of a promise that induced the promisee to change her …

Remedies For Imperfect Transactions In Contracts And Torts, David W. Barnes

San Diego Law Review

The papers by Professors DeLong, Wonnell, and Kelly in this Symposium address different types of imperfect transactions. Promises that are the subject of section 90 of the Restatement (Second) of Contracts are imperfect in the sense that they lack consideration or are disclaimed in subsequent, formalized, written contracts.' Section 90 authorizes courts to find remedies for reasonable but fruitless expenditures induced by parties who make promises on which they should reasonably expect others to rely.2 Professor DeLong decries courts' formalist strategies for enforcing disclaimers that eliminate these promisors' potential liability for intentionally imperfect transactions.' Taking Professor DeLong's analysis of imperfect …

Ohio: A Microcosm Of Tort Reform Versus State Constitutional Mandates, Stephen J. Werber

Law Faculty Articles and Essays

Tort reform emanates, for our purposes, from two primary bodies: state judicial and legislative branches. The vast panoply of congressional and regulatory federal action that bears on the protections afforded and rights to recover for persons within their ambit is a subject for another day. Similarly, the rare areas in which the Supreme Court of the United States establishes federal common law are subjects for another day. On a national scale, the impetus for state legislative reform action can be found in a series of landmark decisions that were soon adopted, in largely similar form, by almost all state supreme …

Rationalising Restitutionary Damages In Contract Law: An Elusive Or Illusory Ques, Andrew Phang, Pey Woan Lee

Research Collection Yong Pung How School Of Law

The present article surveys various issues in the law relating to the award of restitutionary damages in contract law, utilising as its point of focus the recent House of Lords decision in Attorney-General v Blake. It explores, in particular, two possible (albeit quite different) routes towards the recovery of such damages; the first based on the (more traditional) compensatory basis and the second on the (more controversial) restitutionary basis for disgorgement of the defendant's gain. While we argue that there is, on a more general level, no overriding objection in principle to the award of restitutionary damages for cynical breach …

What's My Copy Right?, Michael J. Madison

Articles

This piece consists of an early 21st century whimsy, a dialogue that borrows and blends history and humor to illustrate some puzzles of copyright law in the context of digital technology (with references to Folsom v. Marsh and Abbott & Costello).

An Inconsistently Sensitive Mind: Richard Posner's Celebration Of Insurance Law And Continuing Blind Spots Of Econominalism, Jeffrey W. Stempel

Scholarly Works

Seventh Circuit Judge Richard Posner is well known for bringing economic analysis to bear on a host of issues, including infamously controversial notions such the market for baby sale. Not surprisingly, Posner's insurance law opinions reflect economics, but perhaps not to the degree one would expect. A review of Posner's 20 years of opinions relating to insurance issues reviews his pragmatic jurisprudence as well. Decisions frequently reflect not only economics but also situational context and considerations of business reality as well as a sophisticated grasp of basic insurance doctrine and contract law. As a general matter, Posner also displays considerably …

Recent Case Developments, Jeffrey W. Stempel

Scholarly Works

Recent case developments in Insurance Law in the years 2000 and 2001.

A Brief History Of Anticipatory Repudiation In American Contract Law, Keith A. Rowley

Scholarly Works

This article traces the evolution of the doctrine of anticipatory repudiation from its foundations laid years before the landmark case of Hochster v. De la Tour, 118 Eng. Rep. 922 (Q.B. 1853), through Hochster, its growing acceptance by American courts in the late-1800s and early-1900s, its canonization in the first Restatement of Contracts (despite the Restatement's principal Reporter's personal objections to the doctrine), its codification in the Uniform Commercial Code, its standardization in the Restatement (Second) of Contracts, and its inclusion in the U.N. Convention on Contracts for the International Sale of Goods. This article devotes considerable attention not only …

The Uniform Computer Information Transactions Act: A Well Built Fence Or Barbed Wire Around The Intellectual Commons, Warigia M. Bowman

Articles, Chapters in Books and Other Contributions to Scholarly Works

The Uniform Computer Information Transactions Act (UCITA) is a proposed state contract law developed to regulate transactions in intangible goods such as computer software, online databases and other digital products.' UCITA was intended to act as Article 2B of the Uniform Commercial Code (UCC). Article 2 comprises the law governing commercial transactions in the sale of goods and ensures consistent contract laws from state to state. The stated goal of UCITA is to provide clarity regarding computer information transactions.

The Recording Artist Agreement: Does It Empower Or Enslave, Lynn Morrow

Vanderbilt Journal of Entertainment & Technology Law

In June 2000, Courtney Love, the controversial lead singer of the rock group Hole, lambasts, among other things, record company profits. In an essay entitled "Courtney Love Does the Math," she maintains that a recording artist agreement is itself a form of music piracy. She tells a compelling story about a band and a record company. As a result of a bidding war between the major labels, the band was given what is considered a huge deal-a twenty percent artist royalty and a million dollar advance. Providing a breakdown of how the million dollars was spent, Ms. Love calculates that, …

Tortious Interference And The Law Of Contract: The Case For Specific Performance Revisited, Deepa Varadarajan

Faculty Publications

What is the role of contract law in remedying breach? The question of the appropriate legal remedy, specific performance versus money damages, has provided adequate fodder for three decades of debate in the law and economics discourse. In the legal discipline at large, the topic has spurred centuries of debate, as illustrated by Oliver Wendell Holmes's famous line: “The only universal consequence of a legally binding promise is, that the law makes the promisor pay damages if the promised event does not come to pass.” Holmes's approach to contractual remedy would evolve during the latter half of the twentieth century …

Comparing The General Good Faith Provisions Of The Pecl And The Ucc: Appearance And Reality, Harry Flechtner

Articles

"Good faith" is a notoriously amorphous and variable concept. Thus it is the interpretation and application of the concept that provides the most important points of comparison for the good faith provisions of the Principles of European Contract Law ("PECL") and the Uniform Commercial Code ("UCC") . The UCC has been in force since the 1950's, and its good faith provisions have been applied in hundreds of cases. In contrast, the PECL is a new phenomenon and its good faith rules have not been applied to actual cases. The comment to PECL Article 1:201, however, includes five concrete illustrations of …

Precontractual Reliance, Lucian A. Bebchuk, Omri Ben-Shahar

Articles

During contractual negotiations, parties often make reliance expenditures that would increase the surplus should a contract be made. This paper analyzes decisions to invest in precontractual reliance under alternative legal regimes. Investments in reliance will be socially suboptimal in the absence of any precontractual liability-and will be socially excessive under strict liability for all reliance expenditures. Given the results for these polar cases, we focus on exploring how "intermediate"-liability rules could be best designed to induce efficient reliance decisions. One of our results indicates that the case for liability is shown to be stronger when a party retracts from terms …

The Methodological Commitments Of Contemporary Contract Theory, Jody S. Kraus

Faculty Scholarship

Autonomy and economic theories of contract seem to provide incompatible accounts of contract law. In this Chapter, I argue that what appear to be first-order disagreements over particular contract doctrines are really implicit second-order disagreements reflecting the divergent methodological commitments of autonomy and economic theories. I argue that autonomy theories accord priority to the normative project of justifying existing contract doctrine, treat contract law as consisting in the plain meaning of doctrine, require contract theory to explain the distinctive character of contract law, and take the ex post perspective in adjudication. In contrast, economic theories accord priority to the positive …

Is Article 2 The Best We Can Do?, Robert E. Scott

Faculty Scholarship

You will all be happy to know that, haying listened to my colleagues for the last three hours, I have completely forgotten what I was planning to say. But I haven't forgotten why I am here. I am the proverbial skunk at the garden party, and I hope to fulfill my role as the only skeptic in the group. I must tell you candidly, however, that I agree with everything Gail Hillebrand had to say. That doesn't mean she is going to agree with anything that I have to say, but perhaps there are two skeptics here this afternoon.

My …

Language And Formalities In Commercial Contracts: A Defense Of Custom And Conduct, David V. Snyder

Articles by Maurer Faculty

This article defends the decision to retain usage of trade, course of performance, and course of dealing in the revision of Article 1 of the Uniform Commercial Code. The article responds to recent neoformalist criticisms of the incorporation approach and offers a theoretical justification. Usage of trade and course of dealing should be understood as part of the parties' language, following Wittgenstein's understanding of language. Course of performance, which presents a weaker case in terms of language, should be understood as a legal formality, following Fuller's explanation of formalities. Thus understood, custom and conduct can be as important as written …

Contracting With Electronic Agents, Anthony J. Bellia

Journal Articles

Established contract doctrine provides no clear answer to the question whether exchanges arranged by the interaction of electronic agents are enforceable. This Article explores whether the law should enforce exchanges arranged by the interaction of electronic agents. It examine how normative theories of contractual obligation inform the issue, with an eye toward the strengths and weaknesses of each theory. The theories that most strongly support the enforcement of exchanges arranged by electronic agents, this Article explains, are those that ground contractual obligation in protecting the ability of individuals to pursue their reasonable objectives through reliable arrangements.

Good Faith And The Cooperative Antagonist (Symposium On Revised Article 1 And Proposed Revised Article 2 Of The Uniform Commercial Code), James J. White

Articles

One of Karl Llewellyn's most noted achievements in the Uniform Commercial Code was to impose the duty of good faith on every obligation under the Uniform Commercial Code.1 Some (I am one) have privately thought that imposition of this unmeasurable, undefinable duty was Llewellyn's cruelest trick, but no court, nor any academic writer, has ever been so bold or so gauche as to suggest that good faith should not attend the obligations of parties under the UCC. Notwithstanding this silent indorsement of the duty of good faith, the courts2 and commentators3 have had difficulty in determining what is and what …

The Influence Of Marvin V. Marvin On Housework During Marriage, Margaret F. Brinig

Journal Articles

When Michelle Marvin was forced to leave the home she shared with what today we would call her partner, Lee Marvin, she had a number of problems. The first ones, of course, were legal: she had no marriage with Lee and no written contract that could distinguish their relationship from "mere cohabitation." Nor had she contributed directly to his career or other assets. What she alleged was his express promise to "take care of her" (for some time period that was not altogether clear) and, less obviously, a promise implied by all she had done with and for him during …

Foreword: Is Reliance Still Dead?, Randy E. Barnett

Georgetown Law Faculty Publications and Other Works

One thing I found out when I was a prosecutor is that you should never tell a police officer he cannot do something, for that just serves as an open invitation for him to do it. In recent years, I have learned a similar lesson about legal scholarship which I should probably keep to myself but won't. If you proclaim the existence of a scholarly "consensus," this is an open invitation for academics to try to demolish such a claim.

The Property/Contract Interface, Thomas W. Merrill, Henry E. Smith

Faculty Scholarship

This Article explores the distinction between in personam contract rights and in rem property rights. It presents a functional explanation for why the legal system utilizes these two modalities of rights, grounded in the pattern of information costs associated with each modality. To test this theory, the Article examines four legal institutions that fall along the property/contract interface – bailments, landlord-tenant law, security interests, and trusts – in order to determine how the legal doctrine varies as the underlying situation shifts from in personam, to in rem, to certain relations intermediate between these poles. With respect to each institution, we …

Reinventing The Deal: A Sequential Approach To Analyzing Claims For Enforcement Of Modified Sales Contracts, Irma S. Russell

Faculty Works

No abstract provided.

The Promise Of Certainty In The Law Of Pre-Incorporation Contracts, Poonam Puri

Articles & Book Chapters

In practice, most pre-incorporation contracts cause no difficulty for the parties who intend to benefit directly from them. In the normal course of events, once the corporation is incorporated, both the corporation and the third party perform on the contract: However, when the corporation does not come into existence, or comes into existence but refuses to adopt a contract, difficult legal issues arise in relation to the rights and liabilities of the parties? In these situations, the following questions must be -resolved: To what extent is the promoter liable on,the contract? To what extent is the corporation liable on the …

Presenter, "Changing Roles And Relationships Of Law Firms In Silicon Valley," Emory University New Myths, New Rituals, And New Organizational Forms: A Workshop On The New Economy, Atlanta, Ga., Bruce Price

Bruce M Price

No abstract provided.

Presenter, "Invested: An Examination Of Ethics, Conflicts, And Cultural Risks In Law Firm Equity Investment Opportunities," Social Science Research Council Program On Corporation As A Social Institution, Berkeley, Bruce Price

Bruce M Price

No abstract provided.

Sulla Ragionevolezza Dei Termini Di Pagamento Nella Subcontrattazione: Profili Comparativi, Antonio Lordi

antonio lordi

No abstract provided.

"True Human Community": Catholic Social Thought, Aristotelian Ethics, And The Moral Order Of The Business Company, Scott T. Fitzgibbon

Scott T. FitzGibbon

No abstract provided.