Law Commons^™

Finding Room For Fairness In Formalism--The Sliding Scale Approach To Unconscionability, Melissa T. Lonegrass

Melissa T. Lonegrass

This Article evaluates the sliding scale approach to unconscionability, defends its use, and advocates for its continued and expanded application to consumer standard form contracts. Part I describes the sliding scale approach and its recent popularity in state courts, thereby filling a gap in the scholarly doctrine, which has to date failed to fully examine this trend. Parts II and III defend the sliding scale approach, praising its potential to align the unconscionability analysis with interdisciplinary research regarding consumer behavior and to balance formalist concerns about judicial regulation of unfair terms in standard form contracts. Finally, Part IV calls for …

Marvin V. Marvin: The Scope Of Equity With Respect To Non-Marital Relationships, John F. Dellagrotta

Pepperdine Law Review

No abstract provided.

Vertical Boilerplate, James Gibson

Law Faculty Publications

Despite what we learn in law school about the “meeting of the minds,” most contracts are merely boilerplate—take-it-or-leave-it propositions. Negotiation is nonexistent; we rely on our collective market power as consumers to regulate contracts’ content. But boilerplate imposes certain information costs because it often arrives late in the transaction and is hard to understand. If those costs get too high, then the market mechanism fails. So how high are boilerplate’s information costs? A few studies have attempted to measure them, but they all use a “horizontal” approach—i.e., they sample a single stratum of boilerplate and assume that it represents the …

Beaten To "Submissions": Talent Agents Score A Victory Over Managers On Submissions Of Motion Picture Screenplays, Matthew H. Schwartz

Journal of the National Association of Administrative Law Judiciary

No abstract provided.

Remedies: A Guide For The Perplexed, Doug Rendleman

Scholarly Articles

Remedies is one of a law student’s most practical courses. Remedies students and their professors learn to work with their eyes on the question at the end of litigation: what can the court do for the successful plaintiff? Remedies develops students’ professional identities and broadens their professional horizons by reorganizing their analysis of procedure, torts, contracts, and property around choosing and measuring relief - compensatory damages, punitive damages, an injunction, specific performance, disgorgement, and restitution. This article discusses the law-school course in Remedies - the content of the Remedies course, the Remedies classroom experience, and Remedies outside the classroom through …

Civil Recourse Theory's Reductionism, Guido Calabresi

Indiana Law Journal

American Association of Law Schools Torts & Compensation Systems Panel

Viability Of Arbitration Clauses In West Virginia Oil And Gas Leases: It Is All About The Lease!!!, Phillip T. Glyptis

West Virginia Law Review

No abstract provided.

Sex Matters: Considering Gender In Consumer Contracts, Amy J. Schmitz

Faculty Publications

We hear about the so-called “War on Women” and persisting salary gaps between men and women in the popular media, but contracts scholars and policymakers rarely discuss gender. Instead, dominant voices in the contracts field often reflect classical and economics-driven theories built on assumptions of gender neutral and economically rational actors. Furthermore, many mistakenly assume that market competition and antidiscrimination legislation address any improper biases in contracting. This Article therefore aims to shed light on gender’s importance by distilling data from my own e-survey of Colorado consumers along with others’ research regarding gender differences in contract outcomes, interests and behaviors. …

Much Ado About Nothing?: What The Numbers Tell Us About How State Courts Apply The Unconscionability Doctrine, Susan D. Landrum

Susan Landrum

No abstract provided.

Nonmarket Values In Family Businesses, Benjamin Means

William & Mary Law Review

Despite the economic importance of family businesses, legal scholarship has often overlooked their distinctive character. Instead, scholars focus on the chosen form of business organization— partnership, corporation, LLC—and assume that the participants are economically rational actors who seek to maximize their individual preferences. This Article contends that family businesses are extensions of family relationships and that nonmarket values affect their goals and governance choices.

Just as family law scholars have shown that contract principles can be applied to regulate intimate relationships, corporate law scholars should recognize that the intimacy of family life often substitutes for arm’s length bargaining in family …

The Arbitration Clause As Super Contract, Richard Frankel

Richard Frankel

It is widely acknowledged that the purpose of the Federal Arbitration Act was to place arbitration clauses on equal footing with other contracts. Nonetheless, federal and state courts have turned arbitration clauses into “super contracts” by creating special interpretive rules for arbitration clauses that do not apply to other contracts. In doing so, they have relied extensively, and incorrectly, on the Supreme Court’s determination that the FAA embodies a federal policy favoring arbitration.

While many scholars have focused attention on the public policy rationales for and against arbitration, few have explored how arbitration clauses should be interpreted. This article fills …

Nearly A Century In Reserve: Organized Baseball: Collective Bargaining And The Antitrust Exemption Enter The 80'S, Nancy Jean Meissner

Pepperdine Law Review

In her comment, the author fashions a compelling argument for congressional elimination of baseball's exemption from federal antitrust laws. After noting that the exemption had been formulated in 1922 by the Supreme Court, the author explains that it has been abused by baseball club owners to create a virtual monopoly over ballplayers through the reserve system. Although the reserve system's control was somewhat diluted in 1976, with the advent of free agency and collective bargaining, club owners are currently negotiating for mandatory compensation for the loss of free agents. The resultant threat of a player's strike has served to focus …

Negotiations Between The Wga And Amptp: How To Avoid Strikes And Still Promote Members' Needs, Jillian N. Morphis

Pepperdine Dispute Resolution Law Journal

The article focuses on the collective bargaining agreement negotiations between the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP) and Writers Guild of America (WGA). The role of the WGA is to ensure the rights of writers are not violated and checks on their credit, legislation registration of their writings and enforcement of contracts, while AMPTP is a collective bargaining negotiating association. The strikes by WGA, the negotiation and mediation techniques are also discussed.

Beyond Nondiscrimination: At&T Mobility Llc V. Concepcion And The Further Federalization Of U.S. Arbitration Law, Edward P. Boyle, David N. Cinotti

Pepperdine Dispute Resolution Law Journal

The article presents information on the court case of AT&T Mobility LLC v. Concepcion that was decided by the U.S. Supreme Court and which questioned the preemption of state law and the Federal Arbitration Act related to the enforcement of arbitration agreement. The unconscionability doctrine, the case law related to arbitration and the contract law is discussed. The interpretation of arbitration law is also discussed.

Damning Dictum: The Default Duty Debate In Delaware, Mohsen Manesh

Mohsen Manesh

Bizarrely, today even the most sophisticated business lawyer cannot answer a seemingly simple question: whether, in the absence of an express agreement to the contrary, the manager of a Delaware limited liability company (LLC) owes traditional fiduciary duties to its members as a default matter? This was not always the case. Until recently, this question was settled—settled at least in the Delaware Court of Chancery. But in November 2012, the Delaware Supreme Court cast doubt on a long line of chancery court precedent in Gatz Properties v. Auriga Capital. Given the broad freedom of contract available under LLC law, it …

An Alternative Universe To §1113 Of The Bankruptcy Code: The Mediation Between American Airlines And Its Workforce, Max Schatzow

Max Schatzow

This paper explores mandatory mediation as an alternative method to the current §1113 framework, where judges determine the fate of collective bargaining agreements. Through dialogue, this paper will explore one potential outcome to the ongoing dispute between the various labor unions with collective bargaining agreements with American Airlines.

Cyber Commodification, Miriam A. Cherry

Maryland Law Review

No abstract provided.

On The Conflation Of The State Secrets Privilege And The Totten Doctrine, D. A. Jeremy Telman

Law Faculty Publications

The state secrets privilege (SSP) has become a major hindrance to litigation that seeks to challenge abuses of executive power in the context of the War on Terror. The Supreme Court first embraced and gave shape to the SSP as an evidentiary privilege in a 1953 case, United States v. Reynolds. Increasingly, the government relies on the SSP to seek pre-discovery dismissal of suits alleging torts and constitutional violations by the government. Lower federal courts have permitted such pre-discovery dismissal because they have confused the SSP with a non-justiciability doctrine derived from an 1875 case, Totten v. United States …

Contract Theory And The Failures Of Public-Private Contracting, Wendy Netter Epstein

All Faculty Scholarship

The market for public-private contracting is huge and flawed. Public-private contracts for services such as prisons and welfare administration tend to result in cost savings at the sacrifice of quality service. For instance, to cut costs, private prisons skimp on security. Public law scholars have studied these problems for decades and have proposed various public law solutions. But the literature is incomplete because it does not approach the problem through a commercial lens. This Article fills that gap. It considers how economic analysis of contract law, in particular efficiency theory and agency theory, bear upon the unique problems of public-private …

Beyond Notice And Choice: Privacy, Norms, And Consent, Richard Warner, Robert Sloan

All Faculty Scholarship

Informational privacy is the ability to determine for yourself when and how others may collect and use your information. Adequate informational privacy requires a sufficiently broad ability to give or withhold free and informed consent to proposed uses.

Notice and Choice (sometimes also called “notice and consent”) is the current paradigm for consent online. The Notice is a presentation of terms, typically in a privacy policy or terms of use agreement. The Choice is an action signifying acceptance of the terms, typically clicking on an “I agree” button, or simply using the website. Recent reports by the Federal Trade Commission …

Inefficient Clauses Or Consumer Choices? Lessons From Cognitive Psycology, Enrico Baffi

enrico baffi

This paper is an attempt to highlight how the clauses that are traditionally considered to be inefficient may actually be wanted by consumers. This anomaly has its origin in the fact that each individual builds a mental budget by dividing up the money he has available among the needs he intends to satisfy. According to consumers’ reasoning, money is not fungible, in the sense that amounts cannot be transferred from one expenditure item to another. Consumers that behave in this way may sometimes find that they have finished the amount they budgeted for an item while wanting to buy some …

Coase V. Pigou: A Still Difficult Debate, Enrico Baffi

enrico baffi

This paper examines the positions of Coase and Pigou about the problem of the externalities. From the reading of their most two important works it appears that Coase has a more relevant preference for a evaluation of efficiency at the total, while Pigou, with some exception, is convinced that is possible to reach marginal efficiency through taxes or responsibility. It’s interesting that Coase, who has elaborated the famous theorem, is convinced that is not possible to reach the efficiency at the margin every time and that sometimes is necessary a valuation at the total, that tells us which solution is …

Contract Clauses As Public Goods: A New Way Of Understanding Inefficient Clauses, Enrico Baffi

enrico baffi

he aim of this work is to show how it is possible to identify market failures other than those traditionally identified by lawyers and law and economics scholars to justify the mandatory provisions of contracts between professionals and consumers and the equally mandatory provisions governing the abuse of economic dependency. This is a new approach that can be extended to other provisions and appears to rest on fairly solid microeconomic foundations. There is no doubt, however, that many criticisms can be leveled against it. Very briefly, I shall argue that the production of clauses characterized by being rather vague, indeterminate …

Understanding "The Problem Of Social Cost", Enrico Baffi

enrico baffi

This paper examines the positions of Coase and Pigou in regard to the problem of external effects (externalities). Assessing their two most important works, it appears that Coase has a more relevant preference for an evaluation of total efficiency, while Pigou, with some exceptions, is convinced that it is almost always socially desirable to reach marginal efficiency through taxes or liability. It is interesting that the economist of Chicago, who has elaborated on the renowned theorem, thinks that is not desirable to reach efficiency at the margin every time, and that it is often preferable to evaluate the total, which …

Contract Theory And The Failures Of Public-Private Contracting (Forthcoming), Wendy Netter Epstein

Wendy Netter Epstein

The market for public-private contracting is huge and flawed. Public-private contracts for services such as prisons and welfare administration tend to result in cost savings at the sacrifice of quality service. For instance, to cut costs, private prisons skimp on security. Public law scholars have studied these problems for decades and have proposed various public law solutions. But the literature is incomplete because it does not approach the problem through a commercial lens. This Article fills that gap. It considers how economic analysis of contract law, in particular efficiency theory and agency theory, bear upon the unique problems of public-private …

Rise Of The Intercontinentalexchange And Implications Of Its Merger With Nyse Euronext, Latoya C. Brown

Latoya C. Brown, Esq.

This paper examines the impending merger between the IntercontinentalExchange (ICE) and NYSE Euronext against the backdrop of the current structure of the global financial services industry. The paper concludes that the merger embodies what the financial services industry is becoming and captures the model that will allow exchanges to remain competitive in today’s marketplace: mega-exchanges with broader asset classes and electronic platforms. As technology and globalization threaten their vitality, exchanges will need to continue reinventing and adapting. Increasingly over the last decade they have done so by merging and by moving, at least a part of, their operations on screen. …

Rereading A Canonical Copyright Case: The Nonexistent Right To Hoard In Fox Film Corp. V. Doyal, Shane D. Valenzi

Shane D Valenzi

Do copyright owners have the right to hoard their creative works? The right to exclude on an individual basis is the keystone of copyright law, yet using copyright protection to prevent all public access to a work runs counter to the very premises upon which copyright law is based. This right to exclude the world from use of a creative work—referred to as the right to “hoard” by Justice O’Connor in Stewart v. Abend, is commonly traced to a Lochner-era tax case: Fox Film Corp. v. Doyal. This Article examines the right to hoard and its origins in Fox Film, …

The New Frontier Of Advanced Reproductive Technology: Reevaluating Modern Legal Parenthood, Yehezkel H. Margalit Dr., John D. Loike Dr., Orrie Levy Adv.

Hezi Margalit

Assisted reproductive technologies (ARTs) have challenged our deepest conceptions of what it means to be a parent by fragmenting traditional aspects of parenthood. The law has been slow to respond to this challenge, and numerous academic articles have proposed models for adapting parentage laws to ARTs. In the coming years, however, scientific advancements in reproductive technologies, such as somatic cell nuclear transfer and stem cell technologies, will challenge both parentage laws and proposed legal models for traditional ARTs in new and fascinating ways. For instance, these advanced technologies could allow two women to create a child without any male genetic …

Can't Buy Me Love: Monetary Versus In-Kind Remedies, Daphna Lewinsohn-Zamir

Daphna Lewinsohn-Zamir

The choice of appropriate remedies is a major concern in all legal spheres, yet little has been done to determine which remedies people actually prefer. Scholarly debates on this issue are typically based on theoretical arguments and intuitions rather than experimental or empirical data. It is often assumed that people are indifferent between in-kind and monetary remedies of equal pecuniary value. Consequently, some scholars have argued, for instance, that people ordinarily view a contractual obligation as an option to either perform in-kind or pay expectation damages.

This Article challenges the conventional wisdom that monetary remedies are usually a satisfactory substitute …

Crop Insurance Bad Faith: Protection For America's Farmers, Chad G. Marzen

Chad G. Marzen

This article examines issues concerning the potential liability of crop insurers for insurance bad faith, and discusses cases to date on the issue of federal preemption of insurance bad faith claims under the Federal Crop Insurance Act (FCIA) and the development of a general rule that bad faith claims under state law are not preempted by the FCIA. The article argues that the crop insurance bad faith remedy is designed as a check against egregious, intentional and reckless misconduct of a crop insurer in the handling of a claim and should be preserved by the courts.