Contracts Commons^™

The Strategy Of Boilerplate, Robert B. Ahdieh

Robert B. Ahdieh

Boilerplate can be exciting. It is this, perhaps hard-to-swallow, proposition that the present analysis attempts to convey. Particularly in invoking the work of Thomas Schelling on the role of focal points in coordination games, it offers what can be characterized as a "strategic" theory of boilerplate, in which boilerplate plays an active, even aggressive, role.

Contrary to the relatively inert quality of boilerplate implied by conventional treatments in the legal literature, boilerplate may serve essential signaling and coordination functions in contract bargaining. In appropriate circumstances, its proposed usage may be a valuable weapon in the arsenal of a bargaining party, …

Consumer Preferences For Performances Defaults, Franklin G. Snyder, Ann M. Mirabito

Franklin G. Snyder

Commercial law in the United States is designed to facilitate private transactions, and thus to enforce the presumed intent of the parties, who generally are free to negotiate the terms they choose. But these contracts inevitably have gaps, both because the parties cannot anticipate every situation that might arise from their relationship, and because negotiation is not costless. When courts are faced with these gaps in a litigation context, they supply default terms to fill them. These defaults usually are set to reflect what courts believe similar parties would have agreed to if they had addressed the issue. These "majoritarian" …

Misconstruing Whistleblower Immunity Under The Defend Trade Secrets Act, Peter S. Menell

Peter Menell

In crafting the Defend Trade Secrets Act of 2016 (DTSA), Congress went beyond the federalization of state trade secret protection to tackle a broader social justice problem: the misuse of nondisclosure agreements (NDAs) to discourage reporting of illegal activity in a variety of areas. The past few decades have witnessed devastating government contracting abuses, regulatory violations, and deceptive financial schemes that have hurt the public and cost taxpayers and investors billions of dollars. Congress recognized that immunizing whistleblowers from the cost and risk of trade secret liability for providing information to the Government could spur law enforcement. But could this …

What We Buy When We "Buy Now", Aaron Perzanowski, Chris Jay Hoofnagle

Chris Jay Hoofnagle

The Insurability Of Claims For Restitution, Christopher French

Christopher C. French

The Insurability Of Claims For Restitution, Christopher French

Christopher C. French

Insuring Landslides: America’S Uninsured Natural Catastrophes, Christopher French

Christopher C. French

Determining Limitation Periods For Actions Arising Under Federal Statutes, Neil Sobol

Neil L Sobol

No abstract provided.

A Psychological Investigation Of Consumer Vulnerability To Fraud: Legal And Policy Implication, 35 Law & Psychol. Rev. 61 (2011), Jessica M. Choplin, Debra Pogrund Stark, Jasmine N. Ahmad

Debra Pogrund Stark

No abstract provided.

Navigating Residential Attorney Approvals: Finding A Better Judicial North Star, 39 J. Marshall L. Rev. 171 (2006), Debra Pogrund Stark

Debra Pogrund Stark

No abstract provided.

A License To Deceive: Enforcing Contractual Myths Despite Consumer Psychological Realities, 5 N.Y.U. J. L. & Bus. 617 (2009), Debra Pogrund Stark, Jessica M. Choplin

Debra Pogrund Stark

No abstract provided.

Consumer Protection Initiatives In The Eu Mortgage Market: A Behavioral Economics Based Critique And Proposal, 25 Temp. Int'l & Comp. L.J. 1 (2011), Debra Pogrund Stark, Jessica M. Choplin

Debra Pogrund Stark

No abstract provided.

Dysfunctional Contracts And The Laws And Practices That Enable Them: An Empirical Analysis, 46 Ind. L. Rev. 797 (2013), Debra Pogrund Stark, Jessica M. Choplin, Eileen Linnabery

Debra Pogrund Stark

While many courts refuse to strike down these clauses under the unconscionability test, this Article argues that the results from the Remedies Experiment should lead courts to adopt a different set of tests for ruling on the enforceability of limitation-of-remedy clauses in home purchase contracts. Part I of this Article highlights the relevant results from two empirical studies Professor Stark conducted regarding major problems with the fairness of purchase agreement forms used by residential real estate developers in Illinois. Part I also discusses the lack of home purchaser understanding of key relevant laws and legal documents examined in an empirical …

Mandatory Arbitration For Customers But Not For Peers: A Study Of Arbitration Clauses In Consumer And Non-Consumer Contracts, Theodore Eisenberg, Geoffrey Miller, Emily Sherwin

Emily L Sherwin

We conducted a study of contractual practices by well-known firms marketing consumer products, comparing the firms' consumer contracts with contracts the same firms negotiated with business peers. The frequency of arbitration clauses in consumer contracts has been studied before, as has the frequency of arbitration clauses in non-consumer contracts. Our study is the first to compare the use of arbitration clauses within firms, in different contractual contexts.

The results are striking: in our sample, mandatory arbitration clauses appeared in more than three-quarters of consumer contracts and less than one tenth of non-consumer contracts (excluding employment contracts) negotiated by the same …

Dirty Debts Sold Dirt Cheap, Dalie Jimenez

Dalie Jimenez

More than 77 million Americans have a debt in collections. Many of these debts will be sold to debt buyers for pennies, or fractions of pennies, on the dollar. This Article details the perilous path that debts travel as they move through the collection ecosystem. Using a unique dataset of 84 consumer debt purchase and sale agreement, it examines the manner in which debts are sold, oftentimes as simple data on a spreadsheet, devoid of any documentary evidence. It finds that in many contracts, sellers disclaim all warranties about the underlying debts sold or the information transferred. Sellers also sometimes …

Standard-Form Contracting In The Electronic Age, Robert A. Hillman, Jeffrey J. Rachlinski

Jeffrey J. Rachlinski

The development of the Internet as a medium for consumer transactions creates a new question for contract law. In this Article, Professors Robert Hillman and Jeffrey Rachlinski address whether the risks imposed on consumers by Internet boilerplate requires a new lens through which courts should view these types of contracts. Their analysis of boilerplate in paper and Internet contracts examines the social, cognitive, and rational factors that affect consumers' comprehension of boilerplate and compares business strategies in presenting it. The authors conclude that the influence of these factors in Internet transactions is similar to that in proper transactions. Although the …

Stored Value Cards And The Consumer: The Need For Regulation , Mark E. Budnitz

Mark E. Budnitz

No abstract provided.

A Tale Of Three Markets: The Law And Economics Of Predatory Lending, Kathleen Engel, Patricia Mccoy

Patricia A. McCoy

Predatory lending - the practice of making exploitative high-cost loans to naive borrowers - has spurred policy-makers, activists, lenders and scholars to debate whether intervention is warranted and, if so, what type of intervention is appropriate. The solution requires understanding the incentives in the home mortgage market that have fueled predatory lending. Recent changes in the credit market have created new possibilities for lenders to profit by exploiting information asymmetries to the detriment of unsophisticated borrowers. As a result, a new, predatory lending market has emerged alongside the legitimate prime and subprime home mortgage markets. Neither market forces nor existing …

Debt-Buyer Lawsuits And Inaccurate Data, Peter A. Holland

Peter A. Holland

Pursuant to secret purchase and sale agreements (also known as forward flow agreements), the accounts that banks sell to debt buyers are often sold “as is,” with explicit and emphatic disclaimers that the debts may not be owed, the amounts claimed may not be accurate, and documentation may be missing. Despite their full knowledge that the accuracy and completeness of the data has been specifically disclaimed by the bank, when they sue consumers, debt buyers tell courts that the information obtained from the bank is inherently reliable and accurate. In order to avoid a fraud on the courts, the contents …

Entender Los Males Económicos Modernos A La Luz De La Doctrina Social Católica, Brian M. Mccall

Brian M McCall

In a general sense, St. Thomas Aquinas predicted the paralysis and chaos of the financial and economic systems in America and Europe which occurred in 2008, when he predicted that in a society where unjust exchanges dominate, eventually all exchanges will cease. St. Thomas also points out that although human law cannot prohibit all injustice, society cannot escape the consequences of transgressing the divine law which leaves “nothing unpunished.” Thus, at least part of the explanation for that crisis whose effects remain with us today lies in continuous violations of natural justice by our economic system. Neither one product nor …

"La Transposición De La Directiva 2011/83/Ue Al Derecho Del Reino Unido: 'The (Information, Cancellation And Additional Charges) Regulations 2013'", Luis González Vaqué

Luis González Vaqué

En este artículo se describe y explica sucintamente la transposición al Derecho del Reino Unido de la Directiva 2011/83/UE, de 25 de octubre de 2011, sobre los derechos de los consumidores, por la que se modifican la Directiva 93/13/CEE y la Directiva 1999/44/CE y se derogan las Directivas 85/577/CEE y 97/7/CE, teniendo en cuenta las tres principales áreas cubiertas por la citada Directiva 2011/83/UE: la información que los comerciantes deben facilitar al consumidor, el derecho de desistimiento en los contratos a distancia y los contratos celebrados fuera de un establecimiento y las medidas para impedir los costes encubiertos.

Sea Changes In Consumer Financial Protection: Stronger Agency And Stronger Laws, Dee Pridgen

Dee Pridgen

This article tracks the rising influence of behavioral economics as a guiding force in consumer protection. The Consumer Financial Protection Agency, formed by the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act of 2010, is a new and stronger agency for consumers. Two pieces of legislation, the Mortgage Reform and Anti-Predatory Lending Act (Title XIV of Dodd-Frank), and the Credit Card Accountability , Responsibility and Disclosure Act (Credit CARD Act) of 2009, are stronger laws ensuring the safety of consumer financial products. This article examines the new agency and the new laws, explains how they differ from the prior governmental …

La Falta De Legitimidad En Los Contratos Inoponibles, Rómulo Morales

Rómulo Martín Morales Hervias

No abstract provided.

Taxing Missy: Operation Gold And The 2012 Proposed Olympic Tax Elimination Act, Kathryn Kisska-Schulze, Adam Epstein

Adam Epstein

The purpose of this article is to explore the legal and tax environment surrounding the August 1, 2012 bill referred to as the Olympic Tax Elimination Act (OTEA) which was introduced in the U.S. Senate to exempt from gross income the prize money earned by U.S. Olympians from the United States Olympic Committee (USOC) for earning a gold, silver or bronze medal. The OTEA came at a time when American economic growth has been stagnant, and income tax issues became a hotly contested political debate for the 2012 Presidential election. The article explores how tax issues have weaved their way …

Missouri Sports Law, Adam Epstein

Adam Epstein

The purpose of this paper is to present a brief perspective and overview on how individuals and teams associated with the state of Missouri have had an impact on sports law in general. This article synthesizes Missouri-related cases and decisions, demonstrating that the legal issues are quite broad and varied in this area of the law. Some represent significant state and federal sports law cases including those that have been initiated in or traveled through Missouri via the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals.

Surveying Colorado Sports Law, Adam Epstein

Adam Epstein

The purpose of this article is to provide an overview and explore some of the major sports law cases that have emanated from within the four corners of the state of Colorado or maneuvered through Denver’s Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals. Colorado is a prime location for a wide range of cutting edge cases, decisions, discussions and events which have an impact on the relationship between sports and the law among the professional, amateur and recreational environments. Legal issues at Colorado-based educational institutions appear to have an affinity for and history of exposing and challenging the authority of NCAA policies.

Oportunidades Para Las Empresas Dentro De La Omc, Rodolfo C. Rivas Rea Esq.

Rodolfo C. Rivas

The author provides a brief overview of the World Trade Organization (WTO), the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank (WB) by explaining the context of their interrelationship. Afterwards, the author delves into a brief analysis of Mexico’s role in the International Trade arena and concludes by describing the paths through which the private sector can benefit from the WTO.///////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////El autor pone en contexto la interrelación entre la Organización Mundial del Comercio (OMC) el Banco Mundial (BM) y el Fondo Monetario Internacional (FMI). Posteriormente, el autor describe brevemente el rol de México dentro de las instituciones de Comercio Internacional …

Capitalización De Intereses Y Cierre De La Cuenta Corriente Bancaria, Martin Paolantonio

Martin Paolantonio

Se analiza la cuestión a propósito de un caso que llegó incluso a la Corte Suprema de Justicia de la Nación. Esencialmente, el tema pasa por la interpretación de la norma que autoriza la capitalización de intereses, sin una referencia expresa a su vigencia luego del cierre de la cuenta corriente bancaria.

La Industria Del Libro 3.0 Y J.K. Rowling, Rodolfo C. Rivas Rea Esq., Maria Alejandra Lopez Garcia Esq.

Rodolfo C. Rivas

The authors provide a brief overview of what could be called the 3.0 version of the book industry. Under the 3.0 book industry, the author’s role in exploiting their creations has to embrace new and creative business models, which may often come into conflict with publisher’s old business models. In the article, the authors take a look at the innovative business models implemented by J.K. Rowling, Stephen King, Radiohead and Frank Ocean amongst others. ///////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////// Los autores proporcionan una breve descripción de lo que podría llamarse la versión 3.0 de la industria del libro. En la industria del libro 3.0, …

Changing Places: A New Role For Creators In The Digital World, Rodolfo C. Rivas Rea Esq., Maria Alejandra Lopez Garcia Esq.

Rodolfo C. Rivas

The authors provide a brief overview of the author’s role in exploiting their creations and how new technologies have made authors and publishers explore new business models. In the article, the authors take a look at the innovative business models implemented by J.K. Rowling, Stephen King, Radiohead and Frank Ocean amongst others./////////////////////////////////////////////////// Los autores proporcionan una breve descripción de la función del autor en la explotación de sus creaciones y cómo las nuevas tecnologías han obligado a los autores y editores explorar nuevos modelos de negocio. En el artículo, los autores echan un vistazo a los modelos de negocio innovadores …