Law Commons^™

Force Majeure Clauses At The Age Of Covid-19: How Should Courts Interpret Them And Why A Conservative Application Is Necessary, Dorothy Swagler

Global Business Law Review

A force majeure clause aims to define the scope of unforeseeable events that may excuse or delay a party’s performance. In the wake of the Coronavirus (COVID) pandemic, many parties to disputes attempted to turn to force majeure clauses written in boilerplate language. COVID is distinguishable, however, from other historical force majeure events because of its rapid global development and international economic impact brought upon by government restriction and access issues. In effect, these boilerplate clauses coupled with this novel pandemic, left parties in dispute ill-equipped to know whether their force majeure clause was enforceable. This resulted in a flood …

Covid-19 And Cancelled 2020 College Football Games Contracts: Force Majeure?, Drew Thornley

St. Mary's Law Journal

After COVID-19, majeure clauses accounting for the possibility of a pandemic will become the norm in college football game contracts. Indeed, some contracts are already including pandemics in their lists of force majeure-triggering events. Such language has already been added to collegiate game contracts. For example, a contract signed in May 2020 for the 2025 football game between Wisconsin and Miami (Ohio) lists as force majeure-triggering events “regional or global epidemics, pandemics, quarantines, and other similar health threats (e.g.[,] coronavirus, influenza, etc.).” Scholars explain that “the onset of the novel coronavirus pandemic warranted immediate revisitation of college football contracts.”

However, …

Frustration, The Mac Clause, And Covid-19, Andrew A. Schwartz

Publications

COVID-19's impact on business has been exasperating—but is it Frustrating? The Frustration doctrine of contract law excuses a party from its contractual obligations when an extraordinary event completely undermines the principal purpose of making the deal. This doctrine has long been a marginal player in contract litigation, as parties rarely invoked it—and usually lost when they did.

The COVID-19 pandemic, however, is precisely the type of extraordinary event that Frustration was designed to address, and the courts have been inundated over the past year by a wave of colorable Frustration claims. This timely Article describes the Frustration doctrine and explores …