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Should The Law Ignore Commercial Norms? A Comment On The Bernstein Conjuncture And Its Relevance For Contract Law Theory And Reform, Jason Scott Johnston
Should The Law Ignore Commercial Norms? A Comment On The Bernstein Conjuncture And Its Relevance For Contract Law Theory And Reform, Jason Scott Johnston
Michigan Law Review
Professor Bernstein's study of the interaction between private law and norms in the cotton industry is the latest installment in her ongoing investigation into the relationship between law and norms in trades ranging from the diamond market to grain and feed markets. Her incredibly detailed and thorough exploration of private lawmaking and commercial norms - and their interaction - stands as one of the most significant contributions to contract and commercial law scholarship made in the last half-century. The cotton industry study upon which I focus in this Comment not only reports fascinating findings about dispute resolution practices, but also …
Private Commercial Law In The Cotton Industry: Creating Cooperation Through Rules, Norms, And Institutions, Lisa Bernstein
Private Commercial Law In The Cotton Industry: Creating Cooperation Through Rules, Norms, And Institutions, Lisa Bernstein
Michigan Law Review
The cotton industry has almost entirely opted out of the public legal system, replacing it with one of the oldest and most complex systems of private commercial law. Most contracts for the purchase andsale of domestic cotton, between merchants or between merchants andmills, are neither consummated under the Uniform Commercial Code("Code") nor interpreted and enforced in court when disputes arise. Rather, most such contracts are concluded under one of several privately drafted sets of contract default rules and are subject to arbitration in one of several merchant tribunals. Similarly, most international sales of cotton are governed neither by state-supplied legal …
Exploring The Battle Of The Forms In Action, Daniel Keating
Exploring The Battle Of The Forms In Action, Daniel Keating
Michigan Law Review
Like many commercial law professors, I have long been fascinated with the workings of the Uniform Commercial Code's section 2-207, the "battle of the forms" provision. There are two features of that section, one internal and one external, that make it such an intriguing statute to ponder. The internal source of fascination with section 2-207 is that it provides a classic model for teaching students about the intricacies of statutory construction. There is probably no other provision within U.C.C. Article 2 that provides more confusion to law students and more challenge to the instructor than does section 2-207. There is …
On The Use Of Practitioner Surveys In Commercial Law Research: Comments On Daniel Keating's 'Exploring The Battle Of The Forms In Action', Avery Wiener Katz
On The Use Of Practitioner Surveys In Commercial Law Research: Comments On Daniel Keating's 'Exploring The Battle Of The Forms In Action', Avery Wiener Katz
Michigan Law Review
As Daniel Keating's principal article attests, the literature on U.C.C. section 2-207 and the "battle of the forms" is both vast and intricate. 1 That fact, together with the distinguished array of commentators assembled here, makes it unlikely that I will be able to say anything substantially original on that subject. Accordingly, in the spirit of this overall symposium, I will focus the bulk of my remarks not on the substantive issues raised by Keating's article, but on his methodology. In particular, I will suggest that Keating's empirical method - the free-form, oral interview conducted personally by the principal researcher …
The Sound Of One Form Battling: Comments On Daniel Keating's 'Exploring The Battle Of The Forms In Action', Richard Craswell
The Sound Of One Form Battling: Comments On Daniel Keating's 'Exploring The Battle Of The Forms In Action', Richard Craswell
Michigan Law Review
Daniel Keating has provided a thoughtful and useful study of the way that businesses form contracts. In particular, he has given us a good deal of data concerning the problem known as the "battle of the forms." Commercial lawyers have, of course, been wrangling over this problem for decades, so it is no small accomplishment to be able to offer a useful contribution. In Part I below, I describe more precisely just what Keating's data does and does not illuminate. Parts II and III then focus on a particular contracting practice that Keating has identified: the practice of getting both …
The Limits Of Empiricism: What Facts Tell Us: Comments On Daniel Keating's 'Exploring The Battle Of The Forms In Action', Dennis Patterson
The Limits Of Empiricism: What Facts Tell Us: Comments On Daniel Keating's 'Exploring The Battle Of The Forms In Action', Dennis Patterson
Michigan Law Review
The conventional legal academic wisdom about empiricism is that empirical information is by-and-large a good thing, that we need more of it, and that empirical analysis is preferable to many scholarly alternatives now on offer in the law review literature. I do not dispute the proposition that, all things considered, empirical information is a good thing. What I question is the notion that empirical information necessarily leads to knowledge. Put differently, it is one thing to marshal the facts, and another to know what to make of the facts. I shall raise these points both in a general way and …
Lawyers, Law, And Contract Formation: Comments On Daniel Keating's 'Exploring The Battle Of The Forms In Action', Robert K. Rasumssen
Lawyers, Law, And Contract Formation: Comments On Daniel Keating's 'Exploring The Battle Of The Forms In Action', Robert K. Rasumssen
Michigan Law Review
Attempting to infuse the austerity of theory with a dose of reality, an intrepid group of legal scholars has left the security of the office and ventured into the work-a-day world of commercial practices. The information that they have gathered and are sharing with the rest of us is furthering our understanding of the interaction between commercial law and commercial practice. Embedded in much of the research they have generated is the not-so-flattering conclusion that law professors suffer from a self-serving bias. Those of us in the academy engage in the assumption, often unstated or even unacknowledged, that the law …
Intellectual Property And The Costs Of Commercial Exchange: A Review Essay, Robert P. Merges
Intellectual Property And The Costs Of Commercial Exchange: A Review Essay, Robert P. Merges
Michigan Law Review
A Review of The Commercial Law of Intellectual Property by Peter A. Alces and Harold F. See
Contracts--Consideration--Inadequacy Of Consideration As A Factor In Determining Unconscionability Under Section 2-302 Of The Uniform Commercial Code, Michigan Law Review
Contracts--Consideration--Inadequacy Of Consideration As A Factor In Determining Unconscionability Under Section 2-302 Of The Uniform Commercial Code, Michigan Law Review
Michigan Law Review
Section 2-302 of the Uniform Commercial Code (Code) provides that a court may refuse to enforce all or part of a contract if it finds that the contract, or any part of it, was unconscionable when made. In American Home Improvement, Inc. v. MacIver the Supreme Court of New Hampshire apparently held that a price substantially in excess of the value of the goods and services sold was sufficient in itself to constitute unconscionability under this provision of the Code. The high price was at least in part attributable to high time-credit charges, and, as noted by the court, the …
Government Contracts-Adoption Of Uniform Commercial Code As The Applicable Federal Law In An Action For Breach Of Government Contract-United States V. Wegematic Corp., Michigan Law Review
Government Contracts-Adoption Of Uniform Commercial Code As The Applicable Federal Law In An Action For Breach Of Government Contract-United States V. Wegematic Corp., Michigan Law Review
Michigan Law Review
Appellant contracted to supply the Federal Reserve Board with a "truly revolutionary" electronic digital computing system. After twice requesting postponement of the delivery date, appellant informed the Board that delivery under the terms of the contract would be impracticable because of unforeseen engineering difficulties that would require at least one year and one million dollars to overcome. Appellant asked for cancellation of the contract, but the Board refused and brought a suit for damages. Both parties conceded that federal law governed the action; appellant, however, argued that section 2-615 of the Uniform Commercial Code (Code) should be adopted as the …
Secured Transactions-Insurance-A Security Interest In The "Proceeds" Of Secured Collateral Does Not Include Insurance Proceeds-Universal C.I.T. Corp. V. Prudential Investment Corp., Michigan Law Review
Secured Transactions-Insurance-A Security Interest In The "Proceeds" Of Secured Collateral Does Not Include Insurance Proceeds-Universal C.I.T. Corp. V. Prudential Investment Corp., Michigan Law Review
Michigan Law Review
In return for a loan, a debtor executed a promissory note to codefendant, Prudential Investment Corporation, and entered into a written agreement to secure this note, designating as collateral a semi-tractor and the proceeds therefrom. Under this type of arrangement, Prudential's security interest would attach automatically to any property received from a sale, exchange, or other disposition of the tractor. Petitioner, Universal C.I.T. Corp., held the conditional sales contract which was executed in financing the purchase of the tractor and was named as loss payee in the insurance contract covering the tractor. When the tractor was totally destroyed, petitioner collected …
Article Eight: A Premise And Three Problems, Ernest L. Folk Iii
Article Eight: A Premise And Three Problems, Ernest L. Folk Iii
Michigan Law Review
This essay concerns itself with a basic premise and three problems concerning investment securities under Article Eight of the Uniform Commercial Code (Code). Although some amount of relevant exposition is necessary to make the arguments intelligible, general familiarity with the essentials of the Code's treatment of investment securities is assumed.
Actions On Commercial Paper: Holder's Procedural Advantages Under Article Three, Stanley V. Kinyon
Actions On Commercial Paper: Holder's Procedural Advantages Under Article Three, Stanley V. Kinyon
Michigan Law Review
The discussion will also be concerned primarily with the usual action "on the instrument": an action by the holder to enforce payment by a person who has signed it as maker, acceptor, certifier, drawer, indorser, or guarantor and has thus become "liable on" it. These instruments, of course, may be involved in other types of actions, such as: an action for conversion of the instrument (section 3-419); an action to recover damages for breach of the warranties of a collector or transferor (sections 3-417 and 4-207); an action to compel indorsement (section 3-201); an action to enjoin payment (section 5-114(2)(b)); …
Protection Of The Installment Buyer Of Goods Under The Uniform Commercial Code, Robert H. Skilton, Orrin L. Helstad
Protection Of The Installment Buyer Of Goods Under The Uniform Commercial Code, Robert H. Skilton, Orrin L. Helstad
Michigan Law Review
The present topic for discussion, protection of the installment buyer under the Code, is part of a larger topic-protection of the consumer under the Code. The remarks that follow sometimes apply generally to the status of the consumer under the Code. There are times when no distinction should be made between our model installment buyer and other consumer buyers.
The Contractual Aspect Of Consumer Protection: Recent Developments In The Law Of Sales Warranties, William C. Pelster
The Contractual Aspect Of Consumer Protection: Recent Developments In The Law Of Sales Warranties, William C. Pelster
Michigan Law Review
As might have been expected, the courts have not confined their efforts in updating the law of products liability to fostering innovations in that segment dealing with warranties. The struggle to impose strict tort liability upon a manufacturer for harm caused by his defective products has made significant advances and is continuing: However, the citadel has yet to be taken. Indeed, even the California Supreme Court, which may be considered the leading proponent of this strict tort theory, has limited its availability so that only those seeking redress for harm to person or property may invoke the doctrine; thus, a …
Commercial Law--A Farmer Is Not A "Merchant" Under The Uniform Commercial Code--Cook Grains, Inc. V. Fallis, Michigan Law Review
Commercial Law--A Farmer Is Not A "Merchant" Under The Uniform Commercial Code--Cook Grains, Inc. V. Fallis, Michigan Law Review
Michigan Law Review
Plaintiff grain company allegedly entered into an oral contract to purchase 5,000 bushels of soybeans from the defendant farmer. The grain company signed a written integration of the alleged oral agreement and mailed it to the farmer, with a request for his signature. The farmer neither signed the document nor attempted to communicate with the grain company and later refused to deliver the soybeans pursuant to the terms of the plaintiff's memorandum. In an action for breach of contract, the grain company contended that the farmer was precluded from relying on the statute of frauds, as incorporated in the Uniform …
A General Theory For Measuring Seller's Damages For Total Breach Of Contract, Robert J. Harris
A General Theory For Measuring Seller's Damages For Total Breach Of Contract, Robert J. Harris
Michigan Law Review
This article is concerned with the legal rules which should govern the process of valuing what plaintiff saved by exercising his power to stop further performance upon notice of defendant's serious breach. Where plaintiff is a "buyer" (whether he buys land, services, personality, or the temporary use of some kind of property), and he was to pay the price in dollars, few difficulties arise in valuing his saved performance. But if he was a "seller" of any of those commodities, valuation is hard. Thus our inquiry is chiefly concerned with cases in which plaintiff is a "seller," not a "buyer."