Law Commons^™

Late Delivery--Measure Of Damages, Sidney Kwestel

Scholarly Works

No abstract provided.

Party Autonomy In Choice Of Commercial Law: The Failure Of Revised U.C.C. § 1-301 And A Proposal For Broader Reform, Jack M. Graves

Scholarly Works

No abstract provided.

Comment: More In Defense Of U.C.C. Methodology, Robert A. Hillman

Cornell Law Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Replacing Strict Liability With A Contract-Based Products Liability Regime, Richard C. Ausness

Law Faculty Scholarly Articles

When strict products liability first appeared on the scene some thirty-five years ago, it was heralded as a boon to consumers whose claims to compensation had hitherto been frustrated by the law of sales. Warranty law, it was said, worked fairly well in purely "commercial" transactions, but tort law did a better job in cases where ordinary consumers suffered personal injuries or property damage from defective products. To be sure, defenders of warranty law pointed out that the newly-drafted Uniform Commercial Code (the "Code" or "U.C.C.") was much more consumer friendly than the old Uniform Sales Act. Nevertheless, the proponents …

They Came From "Beyond The Pale": Security Interests In Tort Claims, Harold R. Weinberg

Law Faculty Scholarly Articles

"[B]eyond the pale" is how the drafters of Article Nine of the Uniform Commercial Code regarded tort claims. They considered tort claims to be noncommercial assets inappropriate for inclusion as collateral within the scope of a commercial financing statute. Tort claims may not be out-of-bounds much longer. The Article Nine Study Committee of the Permanent Editorial Board for the Uniform Commercial Code recommends expansion of the Article's scope to encompass security interests in claims arising out of tort. This recommendation is significant. Tort causes of action comprise an ever-expanding universe of civil wrongs for which courts afford redress. The owners …

Notification Of Documentary Discrepancies In Letter Of Credit Transactions, Hong Liu

LLM Theses and Essays

The objective of the thesis is to examine only one aspect of the legal relationship between an issuer and a beneficiary, i.e., an issuer’s duties regarding notifying a beneficiary of documentary discrepancies in the letter of credit transactions. To lay down a theoretical foundation, the basic principle of the letter of credit law and policy considerations for this legal obligation will be explored in the thesis. In Chapter II, the relevant provisions of the U.C.C and U.C.P. will be examined and compared. Chapter III will focus on how the courts interpret and apply the U.C.C and U.C.P. in the cases …

Standards For Revising Article 2 Of The U.C.C.: The Nom Clause Model, Robert A. Hillman

Cornell Law Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Legislative Process And Commercial Law: Lessons From The Copyright Act Of 1976 And The Uniform Commercial Code, Harold R. Weinberg, William J. Woodward Jr.

Law Faculty Scholarly Articles

Overlap and conflict are inevitable in any legal system in which a federal government and state governments both have authority to enact laws. In our federal system, the Constitution's Supremacy Clause identifies federal law as preeminent in case of conflict. When conflict develops and litigation is required to determine whether state or federal law controls the issue at hand, our system analyzes the problem using the term preemption as a basis for analysis.

This Article explores the federal legislative process that precedes judicial preemption decisions. By studying the legislative process for its sensitivity to preemption issues, possible ways to modify …

But The Proposed Uniform Commercial Code Was Adopted Is The Ucc Dead, Or Alive And Well, Carl Felsenfeld

Faculty Scholarship

The oldest living resident may recognize that the title above is de- rived from an article written by Professor Frederick K. Beutel of the Yale Law School, which appeared in the 1952 Yale Law Journal. Professor Beutel began his article by stating that the UCC should not be adopted and concluded by advising that it would "mark the beginning of the end of fairness and uniformity in the commercial law." Beutel's advice was not taken, and, with relatively modest modifications, the UCC has been adopted in all states. This Essay investigates whether Professor Beutel's concerns were justified.

Article 29(2) Of The United Nations Convention On Contracts For The International Sale Of Goods: A New Effort At Clarifying The Legal Effect Of "No Oral Modification" Clauses, Robert A. Hillman

Cornell Law Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

U.C.C. Survey: General Provisions, Bulk Transfers, And Documents Of Title, David Frisch

Law Faculty Publications

The 1986 Annual Survey described the "check it back to local law" approach to the Code's choice of law rules. Recent cases emphasize this. For example, in Madaus v. November Hill Farm, lnc., the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Virginia applied the Virginia pre-Code conflict of laws rules to a dispute between a West German seller of a horse and a Virginia buyer. The court applied the Virginia rule that the law applicable to the validity of a contract is the law of the jurisdiction where the final act necessary to make the contract binding was done. …

U.C.C. Survey: General Provisions, Bulk Transfers, And Documents Of Title, David Frisch

Law Faculty Publications

A drafting compromise by the U.C.C. drafters in section 1-105 dictated the state having an "appropriate relation" to govern choice of law problems in the absence of a contractual clause, and if there is a clause, a "reasonable relation" to the state selected. The purpose was to leave choice of law problems to the general rules of the common law. Thus, some courts in breach of warranty cases continue to apply the tests of "place of injury" for personal injury suits and "place of contracting" for what does not involve personal injury, while others look for the state having the …

Modernizing Kentucky's Uniform Commercial Code, Harold R. Weinberg, Louise Everett Graham, Thomas J. Stipanowich

Law Faculty Scholarly Articles

In 1958 Kentucky became the third state to enact the Uniform Commercial Code promulgated by the American Law Institute and the National Conference of Commissioners on Uniform State Laws. The General Assembly stated that this legislation was intended to modernize, clarify and simplify the law of commercial transactions. Enactment of the Code also evidenced the legislature's intent to make Kentucky commercial law uniform with that of the other states. Subsequent General Assemblies further implemented these policies by enacting substantially all of the uniform amendments to the Code proposed by the ALI and NCCUSL through 1964.

Unfortunately, these enactments represent our …

U.C.C. Survey: General Provisions, Bulk Transfers, And Documents Of Title, David Frisch

Law Faculty Publications

As in the past, there were no significant developments or trends in the few decisions on conflict of laws points. The text of U.C.C. section 1-105, the Code's general choice-of-law provision, speaks comprehensively of "the transaction." Yet recent cases and a draft of the proposed Personal Property Leasing Act take an issue-oriented approach, thus giving the parties greater freedom to specify choice of law. Following the formulation in section 187 of the Restatement (Second) of the Conflict of Laws, the draft Leasing Act supports party choice in the absence of some significant forum policy that requires overriding that choice. In …

Evidentiary Problems In--And Solutions For--The Uniform Commercial Code, Ronald J. Allen, Robert A. Hillman

Cornell Law Faculty Publications

The Uniform Commercial Code does not offer a systematic approach to the rules governing the evidentiary relationships of parties to commercial litigation. In this article, Professors Allen and Hillman present a general analytical approach to proof rules, highlight the shortcomings of the Code's evidentiary provisions, and discuss the inevitable confusion in the case law construing the Code. They propose an amendment to the Code designed to clarify and improve the Code approach.

Pleading And Practice In Commercial Paper Cases: Burdens Of Proof, Harold R. Weinberg

Law Faculty Scholarly Articles

Money debts are frequently paid by checks and evidenced by notes subject to Article Three of the Uniform Commercial Code. Financial institutions and other creditors ordinarily take these instruments with the expectation that they will be paid on time without resort to litigation. This expectation fails when the debtor or some other obligor on the instrument claims that its signature was unauthorized or that there is a defense against payment. This Article analyzes the Uniform Commercial Code rules concerning burdens of proof that apply to these disputes and gives consideration to related procedural and evidentiary questions. It concludes with some …

Uniform Commercial Code Annual Survey: General Provisions, Sales, Bulk Transfers, And Documents Of Title, David Frisch

Law Faculty Publications

On a number of issues arising under the Uniform Commercial Code (U.C.C. or Code), the courts have reached conflicting results, yet the number of jurisdictions passing on each such issue remains small. There is still time, then, for discussion of proper solutions of many of such Code issues. Of interest is the continuing judicial struggle with the intermesh of the Code's warranty provisions, the strict liability provisions of the Restatement Second of Torts, section 402A, and the burgeoning new crop of products liability statutes. The trend toward nuclear and computer problems is reflected in cases involving construction of nuclear plants, …

U.C.C. Filings: Changing Circumstances Can Make A Right Filing Wrong. But Can They Make A Wrong Filing Right?, David Frisch

Law Faculty Publications

A secured party who wishes to perfect an Article 9 security interest by filing must file a proper financing statement in the correct office. If a security interest is perfected, changing circumstances, such as a lapse in time after a change in the location of the collateral, may transform the perfected security interest into an unperfected one. Consequently, the security interest, much to the dismay of the secured party, will be subject to all the deficiencies of an unperfected interest. But, under the Uniform Commercial Code, can the converse be true? That is, for example, can an unperfected security interest, …

Contract Modification Under The Restatement (Second) Of Contracts, Robert A. Hillman

Cornell Law Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Kentucky Law Survey: Commercial Law And Consumer Credit, Harold R. Weinberg

Law Faculty Scholarly Articles

This article is a survey of commercial law and consumer credit in the Commonwealth of Kentucky. The most significant development during the past survey year was the demise of the holder in due course doctrine and other related doctrines which insulated creditors financing consumer sales from consumer claims and defenses. As a result of this development, consumers will now be able to assert claims or defenses arising out of the sale financed against the financer under certain circumstances. Other developments also surveyed herein relate to the Uniform Commercial Code statutes of frauds and prejudgment creditors’ remedies.

Knowledge As A Factor In Determinig Priorities Under The Uniform Commercial Code , Carl Felsenfeld

Faculty Scholarship

Before the Uniform Commercial Code, a second secured party could not perfect his interest over a prior unperfected interest if he had knowledge of that prior interest. The Code, in contrast, promulgates a basic "first-to-file" priority rule in section 9-312(5). In this sharp departure from prior law, the knowledge factor is omitted. Other sections of Article 9, however, allude to certain aspects of the pre-Code knowledge requirements. Mr. Felsenfeld analyses the difficulties and incongruities which may arise from this lack of explicitness with regard to knowledge of prior security interests. He concludes that the courts may and should reconcile such …