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Full-Text Articles in Law
The Cost Of Guilty Breach: Willful Breach In M&A Contracts, Theresa Arnold, Amanda Dixon, Madison Whalen Sherrill, Hadar Tanne, Mitu Gulati
The Cost Of Guilty Breach: Willful Breach In M&A Contracts, Theresa Arnold, Amanda Dixon, Madison Whalen Sherrill, Hadar Tanne, Mitu Gulati
Faculty Scholarship
The traditional framework of United States private law that every first-year student learns is that contracts and torts are different realms—contracts is the realm of strict liability and torts of fault. Contracts, we learn from the writings of Justice Holmes and Judge Posner, are best viewed as options; they give parties the option to perform or pay damages. The question we ask is whether, in the real world, that is indeed how contracting parties view things. Using a dataset made up of one thousand mergers and acquisitions (M&A) contracts and thirty in-depth interviews with M&A lawyers, we find that there …
The Myth Of Optimal Expectation Damages, Theresa Arnold, Amanda Dixon, Madison Sherrill, Mitu Gulati
The Myth Of Optimal Expectation Damages, Theresa Arnold, Amanda Dixon, Madison Sherrill, Mitu Gulati
Faculty Scholarship
A much-debated question in contract law scholarship is what the optimal measure of damages for breach should be. The casebook answer-drawing from the theory of efficient breach-is expectation damages. This standard answer, which was a major contribution of the law and economics field, has come under attack by theoreticians within that field itself. To shed an empirical perspective on the question, we look at data on the types of damages provisions parties contract/or themselves in international debt contracts. Specifically, we examine issuer call provisions, which are economically equivalent to damages for prepayment, yet not viewed as legally problematic in the …
Contracts, Causation, And Clarity, Daniel P. O'Gorman
Contracts, Causation, And Clarity, Daniel P. O'Gorman
Faculty Scholarship
No abstract provided.
The Lost Volume Seller, R.I.P., Victor P. Goldberg
The Lost Volume Seller, R.I.P., Victor P. Goldberg
Faculty Scholarship
If the buyer breaches a sales contract, and if the seller can be characterized as a lost volume seller, courts and commentators have argued that the seller should be made whole by compensation for its lost profits. This paper argues that framing the problem in this way leads to an absurd result. The buyer has a termination option and the remedy should be the implicit option price. The lost profit remedy sets a price on that option, a price that bears no relation to reality. Examination of the case law suggests three conclusions: (a) the remedy often sets an excessive …
When Lightning Strikes: Hadley V. Baxendale's Probability Standard Applied To Long-Shot Contracts, Daniel P. O'Gorman
When Lightning Strikes: Hadley V. Baxendale's Probability Standard Applied To Long-Shot Contracts, Daniel P. O'Gorman
Faculty Scholarship
No abstract provided.
After The Golden Victory: Still Lost At Sea, Victor P. Goldberg
After The Golden Victory: Still Lost At Sea, Victor P. Goldberg
Faculty Scholarship
In The Golden Victory the House of Lords held that when determining damages for a repudiatory breach, in a conflict between the compensatory principle and finality, the former trumped. The decision was recently ratified by the Supreme Court in Bunge SA v. Nidera BV. The claim in this paper is that this was a mistake; properly conceived, there is no conflict. The contract should be viewed as an asset and compensation would entail determining the decline in value of that asset at the time of the breach. The value of the contract at that moment would reflect the possible effects …
Contracting Out Of Article 2: Minimizing The Obligation Of Performance & Liability For Breach, Sarah Howard Jenkins
Contracting Out Of Article 2: Minimizing The Obligation Of Performance & Liability For Breach, Sarah Howard Jenkins
Faculty Scholarship
No abstract provided.
Bloomer Girl Revisited Or How To Frame An Unmade Picture, Victor P. Goldberg
Bloomer Girl Revisited Or How To Frame An Unmade Picture, Victor P. Goldberg
Faculty Scholarship
Nearly all contracts casebooks feature the saga of Shirley MacLaine's suit against Twentieth Century Fox arising from the cancellation of the proposed film Bloomer Girl. None really get the story right. To be fair, none try. The case is a vehicle for exploring the obligation of the victim of the breach of an employment contract to take alternative employment. If MacLaine refused an offer of alternative employment that was not "different and inferior," her failure to mitigate would mean that the earnings she would have received would be offset against the damages; so, asked the court, was the alternative …
Consequential Damages In Contracts For The International Sale Of Goods And The Legacy Of Hadley, Arthur Murphey
Consequential Damages In Contracts For The International Sale Of Goods And The Legacy Of Hadley, Arthur Murphey
Faculty Scholarship
No abstract provided.