Contracts Commons^™

Reforming The Unbargained Contract: Avoiding Bondholder Claims For Surprise Par Calls, Robert S. Blanc, Randy D. Gordon

Faculty Scholarship

Until the last couple of decades, interest rates remained relatively stable, thus providing little incentive for corporate borrowers to seek novel ways of redeeming purportedly non-callable bonds at par. But with the advent of junk bonds and periods of great interest rate volatility, issuers have been provided with powerful incentives to explore the relatively uncharted waters of par calls. This Article examines the authority for and legality of such par calls and ultimately proposes a redefinition of the issuer-bondholder relationship. This redefinition accounts for the realities of the marketplace and should lead a return to more settled expectations in both …

The Unfulfilled Promise Of Promissory Estoppel In The Employment Setting, Robert A. Hillman

Cornell Law Faculty Publications

Although the theory of promissory estoppel enforces promises that induce reasonable detrimental reliance, this article reveals the theory's colossal failure in the non-union employment setting. This conclusion is based on an examination of all of the reported decisions in the United States that discussed promissory estoppel over a two-year period in the mid 1990's. During this period, employees won only 4.23 percent of employment promissory estoppel cases decided on the merits. At first blush, this is very surprising because employers, through their communications, seek to create the expectation of a stable, secure work environment and employees, because of their lack …

The "New Conservatism" In Contract Law And The Process Of Legal Change, Robert A. Hillman

Cornell Law Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Forgotten Equity: The Enforcement Of Forum Clauses, Graydon S. Staring

Graydon S. Staring

When courts differ widely and sharply on which of three or four procedural courses shouold be taken to enforce a contractual right of unquestioned validity, and every such course openly strains orthodox procedural doctrine, we may suslpect they are all wrong. We can confirm that they are wrong when we recognize the right in question is not a procedural incident at all but the right to a substantive performance, bargained for by the parties, that has about it an illusory appearance of procedure and, because of its substance, does not fit comfortably within merely procedural doctrine. Such is the right …

Paternalism In The Law Of Marriage, Jeffrey E. Stake

Indiana Law Journal

No abstract provided.

Civil Enforceability Of Religious Prenuptual Agreements, Michelle Greenberg-Kobrin

Faculty Articles

In the years since Perri Victor's divorce has been finalized, she has tried to move on with her life. She is raising a young daughter from that marriage and finishing up law school. Perri and Warren Victor were married in an Orthodox Jewish ceremony in Florida in 1976. They received a civil divorce in 1990. However, as an Observant Jew, Perri cannot remarry until Warren gives her a Jewish religious divorce known as a get. Since late 1987, she has been pleading with Warren to give her a get. When Warren asked her to give up a portion of her …

Of Textualism, Party Autonomy, And Good Faith, Michael P. Van Alstine

Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.

Second Generation Of Law And Economics Of Conflict Of Laws: Baxter's Comparative Impairment And Beyond, Erin O'Hara O'Connor, William H. Allen

Scholarly Publications

In his 1963 article in the Stanford Law Review, “Choice of Law and the Federal System,” Professor William F. Baxter criticized the choice-of-law approach of the First Restatement of the Conflict of Laws. According to the Restatement, courts should apply the law of the state where the last act or event deemed necessary to create a cause of action occurred. In contrast, Baxter advocated a comparative-impairment approach, whereby judges were obligated to apply the law of the state whose public policy would suffer the greatest impairment if its law was not applied. The authors contend that although Baxter’s approach caries …

The Rise Of America's Two National Pastimes: Baseball And The Law, Cleta Deatherage Mitchell

Michigan Law Review

Mark McGwire's seventieth home run ball sold at auction in January of this year for $3,005,000. In late 1998, Baltimore Orioles owner Peter Angelos sued a former Orioles manager and his daughter in the circuit court of Cook County, Illinois. Angelos alleged that the original lineup card from the 1995 game when Cal Ripken, Jr., broke Lou Gehrig's consecutive game record belongs to the Orioles, not to the former manager and certainly not to his daughter. There may be no crying in baseball, but there is money. And wherever earthly treasure gathers two or more, a legal system arises. From …

The Employment Contract, Ian Ayres, Stewart J. Schwab

Cornell Law Faculty Publications

This article consists of Professors Ian Ayres and Stewart Schwab 's presentation given at the Economic Analysis of State Employment Law Issues Symposium. Following the presentation, audience members and the presenters participated in a discussion concerning employment contracts. The Journal staff and Professors Ayres and Schwab compiled and edited some of these questions and responses.

Tort Law—Tortious Interference With Contract: The Arkansas Supreme Court Clarifies Who Has The Burden And What They Have To Prove. Mason V. Wal-Mart Stores, Inc., 333 Ark. 3, 969 S.W.2d 160 (1998)., Odette Woods

University of Arkansas at Little Rock Law Review

No abstract provided.

Arbitration, Labor Contracts, And The Ada: The Benefits Of Pre-Dispute Arbitration Agreements And An Update On The Conflict Between The Duty To Accommodate And Seniority Rights, Jan William Sturner

University of Arkansas at Little Rock Law Review

No abstract provided.

Of Textualism, Party Autonomy, And Good Faith, Michael P. Van Alstine

William & Mary Law Review

No abstract provided.

Franchisor Liability For The Torts Of Its Franchisees: The Case For Substituting Liability As A Guarantor For The Current Vicarious Liability, John L. Hanks

Faculty Articles

The author reviews the justifications for applying the law of vicarious liability in the franchising context and concludes that its application is often inefficient and arbitrary. He argues that the employee-independent contractor dichotomy used by courts to determine franchisor liability is not well-suited to franchising, where the relationship encompasses both concepts. He proposes that vicarious liability not be applied in the franchising context. Instead, the courts by case law or state legislatures by statute should impose a guarantor status on franchisors that would expose them to liability for the torts of the franchisees only if the franchisee was unavailable to …

An Inquiry Into Several Difficult Problems In Enacting China's Uniform Contract Law, Wang Lliming, Keith Hand

Washington International Law Journal

Translator's Forward: In March of 1999, China's Ninth National People's Congress ("NPC") passed the Contract Law of People's Republic of China. The new law is the product of nearly six years of drafting work by China's Legislative Affairs Commission and contains over 400 articles, including 129 general contract provisions and 299 articles dealing with specific types of contracts. When the law takes effect on October 1, 1999, it will unify China's contract law by replacing the three principal contract statutes currently in force, the Economic Contract Law, the Foreign-related Economic Contract Law, and the Technology Contract Law. The passage of …

Mcc-Marble Ceramic Center: The Parol Evidence Rule And Other Domestic Law Under The Convention On Contracts For The International Sale Of Goods, Rod N. Andreason

BYU Law Review

No abstract provided.

Freedom Of Contract And The Securities Laws: Opting Out Of Securities Regulation By Private Agreement, Elaine A. Welle

Washington and Lee Law Review

No abstract provided.

Privately Legislated Intellectual Property Rights: Reconciling Freedom Of Contract With Public Good Uses Of Information, J.H. Reichman, Jonathan A. Franklin

Librarians' Articles

In an age of omnipresent clickwrap licenses, we acknowledge the need for a uniform set of default rules that would validate non-negotiable licenses as a mechanism for minimizing transaction costs likely to hinder economic development in a networked environment. However, we contend that any model of contract formation not driven by the traditional norms of mutual assent requires specially formulated doctrinal tools to avoid undermining long-established public good uses of information for such purposes as education and research, technical innovation, free speech, and the preservation of free competition.

With the convergence of digital and telecommunications technologies, creators and innovators who …

Section 365 In The Consumer Context: Something Old, Something New, Something Borrowed, Something Blue, Michael G. Hillinger, Ingrid Michelsen Hillinger

Faculty Publications

The § 365 consumer debtor case law has a further complication. Much of it arises in the context of the last great bankruptcy frontier, Chapter 13. Until recently, Chapter 11 has occupied the minds and hearts of courts and attorneys. Not any more. And, as attorneys and courts take a closer, harder look at Chapter 13, it is no longer possible to describe it as a “streamlined creditors-can’t-vote Chapter 11”. Chapter 13 is unique, presenting its very own quandaries, not the least of which is how its provisions and § 365 interact. We live in interesting times.

Consideraciones Acerca Del Proyecto De Reforma Del Código Civil Y Los Contratos De Empresa, Martin Paolantonio

Martin Paolantonio

Se analizan y valoran las propuestas de la reforma proyectada en 1998, respecto de los contratos de empresa, incluyendo la etapa precontractual, reglas de interpretación y contratos con cláusulas predispuestas

La Prescripción De Las Acciones Cambiarias, Martin Paolantonio, Salvador Bergel

Martin Paolantonio

Estudio sobre la prescripción de las acciones para el cobro de títulos valores cambiarios (letra de cambio, pagaré, cheque, factura de crédito y letras hipotecarias)

La Retribución De Los Directores Y El Análisis Económico Del Derecho: Reflexiones Sobre El Caso De Las Sociedades Abiertas, Martin Paolantonio

Martin Paolantonio

Desde la perspectiva del AED, análisis crítico de las disposiciones de la ley de sociedades comerciales en materia de retribución de administradores

Las Cláusulas Abusivas En El Contrato De Emisión De Tarjeta De Crédito, Martin Paolantonio

Martin Paolantonio

Análisis de las cláusulas abusivas integrando las disposiciones de la ley 25065 de tarjetas de crédito con las normas generales de tutela al consumidor (ley 24240)

Responsabilidad Civil De Las Entidades Financieras En Las Operaciones De Crédito Al Consumo, Martin Paolantonio, Salvador Bergel

Martin Paolantonio

Tratamiento de una cuestión sustantiva en las operaciones de crédito al consumo: la tutela del consumidor ante el incumplimiento del proveedor y la pretensión de cobro del financista

Alcances De La Ley 23.928 Y Su Vinculación Con Los Contratos De Locación, Martin Paolantonio

Martin Paolantonio

Análisis del alcance de la prohibición de indexar obligaciones, a propósito de una nota a fallo de la Cámara Nacional Civil sobre un contrato de locación comercial

The Sky Is Falling (Or Is It?): International Contracts And The Y2k Problem, Mark B. Baker

Vanderbilt Journal of Transnational Law

Y2K problems at this point in time are reasonably foreseeable due to the amount of attention given the subject. Contracting parties should examine potential Y2K problems arising internally and address them before January 1, 2000. Yet the extent of Y2K problems, be they widespread or solitary occurrences, remains unforeseeable and unpredictable. Even those parties having adequately addressed internal Y2K problems can experience difficulties due to external parties having failed to become Y2K-compliant. This "second tier" of unforeseeability supports the use of excused performance, but the "first tier" foreseeability that Y2K problems potentially exist prevent viable use of the defense. In …

Myths, Miscues, And Misconceptions: No-Aid Separationism And The Establishment Clause, Carl H. Esbeck

Faculty Publications

In neutrality theory the recipients of vouchers, grants, and purchase-of-service contracts are eligible to participate as providers in government social service programs without regard to their religious character. Indeed, religious beliefs and practices are prohibited bases for screening out those who want to be welfare program providers. Notable examples of congressional social service legislation conforming to the rule of religious neutrality are the ‘charitable choice‘ feature imbedded in the Welfare Reform Act of 1996 and the Community Services Block Grant Act of 1998, as well as the provision allowing issuance of child care vouchers to indigent parents in the Child …

The Singapore Electronic Transactions Act 1998 And The Proposed Article 2b Of The Uniform Commercial Code, Andrew B.L. Phang

Research Collection Yong Pung How School Of Law

It is axiomatic that the law must change with the times. And nowhere is this more starkly demonstrated than in the shift, particularly during the last decade or so, into the information age - a shift that has radically changed the face of commerce, and will continue to do so in the years to come. In the context of commercial law, the focus on goods and property, so prevalent particularly in the middle of this century, is now giving way to an acknowledgment that the relevant legal regimes must accommodate information as contractual subject-matter. In this regard, it is widely …

Microfinance And The Mechanics Of Solidarity Lending: Improving Access To Credit Throught Innovations In Contract Structure, Jameel Jaffer

Florida State University Journal of Transnational Law & Policy

No abstract provided.

The Law Of Contract And The Concept Of Change: Public And Private Attempts To Regulate Modification, Waiver, And Estoppel, David Snyder

Articles in Law Reviews & Other Academic Journals

No abstract provided.