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Full-Text Articles in Law
Let Us Never Blame A Contract Breaker, Richard A. Posner
Let Us Never Blame A Contract Breaker, Richard A. Posner
Michigan Law Review
Holmes famously proposed a "no fault" theory of contract law: a contract is an option to perform or pay, and a "breach" is therefore not a wrongful act, but merely triggers the duty to pay liquidated or other damages. I elaborate the Holmesian theory, arguing that fault terminology in contract law, such as "good faith," should be given pragmatic economic interpretations, rather than be conceived of in moral terms. I further argue that contract doctrines should normally be alterable only on the basis of empirical investigations.
Fault In Contract Law, Eric A. Posner
Fault In Contract Law, Eric A. Posner
Michigan Law Review
A promisor is strictly liable for breaching a contract, according to the standard account. However, a negligence-based system of contract law can be given an economic interpretation, and this Article shows that such a system is in some respects more attractive than the strict-liability system. This may explain why, as a brief discussion of cases shows, negligence ideas continue to play a role in contract decisions.
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 …
Corporations-Officers And Directors-Effect Of Statutes On Contracts Between Corporations With Common Directors, William K. Davenport S.Ed.
Corporations-Officers And Directors-Effect Of Statutes On Contracts Between Corporations With Common Directors, William K. Davenport S.Ed.
Michigan Law Review
Legislative policy-making on the subject of contracts between corporations having interlocking directorates has required a balancing of the interest of corporate enterprise in the flexibility of business relations against the interest of minority shareholders in protection against self-dealing by corporate managers.
Agency-Imputation Of Agent's Knowledge To Principal-Insurance Contracts, Robert B. Krueger S.Ed.
Agency-Imputation Of Agent's Knowledge To Principal-Insurance Contracts, Robert B. Krueger S.Ed.
Michigan Law Review
Defendant insurance company's soliciting agent falsified applicant's warranted answers to material questions in an application for automobile casualty insurance. The applicant signed, not knowing of the nature of the answers. On the basis of these answers, defendant issued a casualty policy on applicant's automobile, containing a clause prohibiting waiver or estoppel as to any of the terms of the contract because of the agent's knowledge. As a result of a subsequent accident, plaintiffs recovered judgments against applicant which applicant failed to satisfy. In an action by plaintiffs against defendant, on supplemental petition, defendant admitted recovery against applicant, but claimed no …
Patents-Exclusive Licenses-Licensor And Licensee Relationship- Llicensee's Obligations, Gordon W. Hueschen S. Ed.
Patents-Exclusive Licenses-Licensor And Licensee Relationship- Llicensee's Obligations, Gordon W. Hueschen S. Ed.
Michigan Law Review
Patent licensing is today, as always, a very significant part of patent law. Since royalty licenses allow a patentee to realize pecuniary benefits from his invention without yielding ownership, as he would by an assignment, they are especially attractive to an inventor who anticipates considerable commercial success for his contribution, and who does not desire to lose all control of the invention for a lump sum, the adequacy of which must be, at best, speculative. From the licensee's standpoint, it is usually advantageous to be free of competition from others also operating under the same patent monopoly, at least within …
Coming Into Equity With Clean Hands, Zechariah Chafee, Jr.
Coming Into Equity With Clean Hands, Zechariah Chafee, Jr.
Michigan Law Review
The most amusing maxim of equity is "He who comes into Equity must come with clean hands." It has given rise ,to many interesting cases and poor jokes. The maxim has been regarded as an especially significant manifestation of the ethical attitude of equity as contrasted with the common law. Pomeroy, for instance, argues that the principle involved in this maxim is "merely the expression of one of the elementary and fundamental conceptions of equity jurisprudence." Pomeroy's theory is that chancery has power to force a defendant to comply with the dictates of conscience as to matters outside the strict …
Insurance - Conditional Vendor's Insurance - Effect Of Repair By Or Restoration To The Vendee Or Sub-Vendee, Michigan Law Review
Insurance - Conditional Vendor's Insurance - Effect Of Repair By Or Restoration To The Vendee Or Sub-Vendee, Michigan Law Review
Michigan Law Review
Plaintiff, a Minnesota corporation, purchased the vendor's interest in an automobile sold under a conditional sales contract. The defendant insured the plaintiff against direct loss or damage to the automobile by collision and/or upset. The vendee, without plaintiff's knowledge or consent, sold the car to a sub-vendee who drove it to Texas, became involved in an accident, and sold the wreckage to a resident of Texas who purchased in good faith. The car was rebuilt and resold. Plaintiff sued for the loss caused by the collision. Held, plaintiff may recover even though the car was repaired by others prior …
The Legal Significance Of Labor Contracts Under The National Labor Relations Act, William Gorham Rice Jr.
The Legal Significance Of Labor Contracts Under The National Labor Relations Act, William Gorham Rice Jr.
Michigan Law Review
The National Labor Relations Act was passed, as it declares in its first section, to encourage "the practice and procedure of collective bargaining'' and to give workers freedom to designate "representatives of their own choosing, for the purpose of negotiating the terms and conditions of their employment"; and the last of the unfair labor practices named in section 8 is for an employer "to refuse to bargain collectively." Bargaining and negotiating, the National Labor Relations Board has repeatedly declared, must be done in good faith. Discussion is not true negotiation or bargaining. For the employer to bargain in good faith …
Principal And Agent - Liability Of Agent To Third Party For Contract Made Without Authority, Walter Probst Jr.
Principal And Agent - Liability Of Agent To Third Party For Contract Made Without Authority, Walter Probst Jr.
Michigan Law Review
The defendant conducted a real estate agency and had been requested from time to time to find a purchaser for a certain tract of land. The defendant negotiated to sell this land to the plaintiffs, who knew the defendant was acting as an agent. The land had before the time of this negotiation been conveyed to a third party by the principal. It was found that the defendant was acting in good faith. Held, that the defendant was not personally liable for the loss and damage sustained by the plaintiffs. King v. Russell, 278 Mich. 529, 270 N. …
Quasi Contracts-Liability Of Landowner For Repairs Furnished Without Request
Quasi Contracts-Liability Of Landowner For Repairs Furnished Without Request
Michigan Law Review
Plaintiff furnished labor and materials for repairs to a farm house owned by defendant. The work was done without the knowledge of defendant at the request of defendant's brother who was occupying the place at the time and who had formerly been the owner. Plaintiff sued to foreclose a materialman's lien, but the lien was disallowed because not filed in time. It was held, nevertheless, that even though plaintiff was unable to prove either a contract with defendant or an agency relationship between defendant and his brother, plaintiff could still recover the reasonable value of the benefits furnished to …