Contracts Commons^™

Enforcing Family Promises: Reliance, Reciprocity, And Relational Contract, Melanie B. Leslie

Articles

Courts are willing, in commercial contexts, to enforce promises even without consideration when enforcement supports a norm of reciprocity-a norm which recognizes that promises are seldom totally gratuitous, but are often made in furtherance of reciprocal, long-term, trust-based relationships. In this article, Professor Leslie argues that relational contract principles are firmly embedded in wills law. Courts enforce the reciprocity norm in the family context just as they do in commercial contexts; this enforcement is seen, however, not in breach of promise suits, which occur rarely between family members, but rather in will contests. Despite the prevalent ideology of wills law, …

How To Do Things With Hegel, David G. Carlson

Articles

The article argues that contract is not merely a tool for pre-existing personalities but is instead constitutive of personality itself. It challenges the conventional view that personality exists prior to law, instead positing that contract is necessary for the emergence and recognition of personality. The author contends that contract is foundational to legal and personal identity, as it establishes mutual recognition and rights between individuals.

Resolving The Paradox Between Legal Theory And Legal Fact: The Judicial Rejection Of The Theory Of Efficient Breach, Craig S. Warkol

Cardozo Law Review

No abstract provided.

Metropolitanism, Progressivism, And Race, Edward A. Zelinsky

Articles

Professor Zelinsky examines three books on local government. Two of these, Cities Without Suburbs, by David Rusk, and Citistates, by Neal Peirce, call for metropolitanizing the governance of urban areas. Our Town, by David L. Kirp, John P. Dwyer, and Larry A. Rosenthal, explores the Mt. Laurel litigation and its aftermath and suggests that the land use authority of local governments be diminished through court-ordered zoning for low-income housing.

Professor Zelinsky is skeptical of these well-intentioned proposals. The metropolitan governments advocated by Rusk and Peirce would be less responsive than the smaller localities they would replace and less likely to …

The New York Court Of Appeals: 150 Years Of Leading Decisions, Stewart E. Sterk

Articles

During its first 150 years, the New York Court of Appeals has had more impact on more areas of law than any other court in the United States. Other state courts-the California Supreme Court in the Traynor era, the New Jersey Supreme Court under Chief Justice Weintraub, to take two obvious examples-have had enormous impact, but no other state court has generated leading case after leading case in every decade for 150 years. Federal courts, including the United States Supreme Court, have had an enormous impact on American law, but that impact has been concentrated in public law; no federal …

Independent Contractor Or Employee? Misplaced Reliance On Actual Control Has Disenfranchised Artistic Workers Under The National Labor Relations Act, Thomas M. Murray

Cardozo Arts & Entertainment Law Journal

No abstract provided.

"Just Say Never?" Poison Pills, Deadhand Pills, And Shareholder-Adopted Bylaws: An Essay For Warren Buffett, Jeffrey N. Gordon

Cardozo Law Review

No abstract provided.

The Role Of A Central Bank In A Bubble Economy, Geoffrey P. Miller

Cardozo Law Review

In recent years, price bubbles appear to have developed in the real estate markets in several developed economies, including the United States, Australia, the United Kingdom, the Nordic countries, and Japan. Often these price increases in land have been accompanied by rapid run-ups in the price of equity securities in the domestic market. Because of the importance of real estate and equity security prices to economic activity, real estate and share price bubbles can damage the economy if they break and lead to price crashes.

A V. B, Dalia Dorner, Itzchak Zamir, Gavriel Bach, Shlomo Levin, Mishael Cheshin

Translated Opinions

Facts: The appellant and his wife were married for many years but remained childless. The appellant began a relationship with a 15 year-old girl, the first respondent, in order to have a child by her, and she did indeed become pregnant and bear his child. When the child was born, the girl wanted the child to be adopted by a third party, but the appellant wanted to raise the child with his wife.

The main witness in the trial court was Mr Rami Bar-Giora, an expert psychologist, who testified that if the child were raised by the appellant and the …

Nahmani V. Nahmani, Tzevi Eliyahu Tal, Dalia Dorner, Eliezer Goldberg, Yaakov Kedmi, Jacob Turkel, Gavriel Bach, Eliahu Mazza, Tova Strasberg-Cohen, Theodor Or, Itzchak Zamir, Aharon Barak

Translated Opinions

Facts: Ruth and Daniel Nahmani, a married couple, were unable to have a child because of an operation that Ruth underwent. They therefore decided to try in-vitro fertilization of Ruth’s ova with Daniel‟s sperm, with a view to implanting the fertilized ova in a surrogate mother. Under Israeli law, surrogacy was not permitted and in-vitro fertilization was only permitted for implantation in the woman from whom the ova were taken. Because of the great expense of the in-vitro fertilization procedure in the United States, the couple petitioned the Supreme Court, sitting as the High Court of Justice, to allow …

Darkness In The Land Of The Rising Sun: How The Japanese Discriminate Against Ethnic Koreans Living In Japan, Paul E. Kim

Cardozo Journal of International and Comparative Law

The note examines the systemic discrimination faced by ethnic Koreans in Japan, rooted in historical, legal, and social structures. It argues that despite constitutional guarantees of equality, the Japanese judiciary and government perpetuate discrimination through restrictive nationality laws, naturalization processes, and the failure to enforce international human rights treaties effectively. The note advocates for legal reforms and international pressure to address these issues and ensure equal rights for ethnic minorities.

How To Be Or Not To Be: The United Nations Convention On Contracts For The International Sale Of Goods, Article 6, Heidi Stanton

Cardozo Journal of International and Comparative Law

The note examines the ambiguity surrounding Article 6 of the United Nations Convention on Contracts for the International Sale of Goods (CISG), which allows parties to exclude the Convention's application. It argues that the lack of clarity on whether exclusion must be explicit or can be implicit leads to significant interpretational challenges, affecting the uniformity of the Convention's application in international trade.

Habermas And The Postal Rule, Peter Goodrich

Cardozo Law Review

It seems somewhat churlish at the end of so much discussion, at the terminus of the circulation of so extensive a commentary and critical appraisal of a single text, to offer further doubts, to intimate certain additional, and worse, extraneous criticisms of Jurgen's contribution to jurisprudence. Nonetheless, there is a tangible theme of misunderstanding, noncomprehension, and failed communication that has accompanied the debate in this conference and can act as the proximate emblem of the following intervention. This essay will simply suggest that there is little in Habermas's study of legal discourse and of the conditions under which the rule …

The Duration Of Copyright And The Limits Of Cultural Policy, J. H. Reichman

Cardozo Arts & Entertainment Law Journal

No abstract provided.

A Neo-Institutional Paradigm For Contracts Formed In Cyberspace: Judgment Day For The Statute Of Frauds, Marc E. Szafran

Cardozo Arts & Entertainment Law Journal

No abstract provided.

Rethinking A Corporation’S Obligations To Creditors, Steven L. Schwarcz

Cardozo Law Review

No single body of law presently governs a corporation's obligations to creditors. However, disparate laws, starting from different perspectives, contribute to a patchwork of obligations that is poorly understood. Consequently, corporate directors have little guidance when balancing creditor and shareholder rights under corporate restructurings, securitizations, and leveraged transactions.

Commentators who have grappled with this issue focus almost exclusively on the fiduciary duty of a corporation's board of directors to shareholders. Some argue that only shareholders should be entitled to the duty; others argue that the duty should be extended to creditors under various circumstances. This Article maintains that both approaches …

Compensating Caregiving Relatives: Abandoning The Family Member Rule In Contracts, Jonathan S. Henes

Cardozo Law Review

The law presumes that a person who performs a valuable service for another will be compensated. However, a limited exception to this principle exists when the services are performed between family members. This exception, also known as the family member rule, is a nineteenth century creation that arose from the courts' understanding of the dynamics of the nineteenth century household. However, the household of the nineteenth century has all but disappeared from contemporary society. With the disappearance of this household, the issue that arises is whether the family member rule is still necessary. This Note argues that it is not …

Circuit Court Erie Errors And The District Court's Dilemma: From Roto-Lith And The Mirror Image Rule To Octagon Gas And Asset Securitization, Nikiforos Mathews

Cardozo Law Review

Part I of this Note examines the mistake made by the Tenth Circuit in Octagon Gas. It further discusses the related problem inherent in a district court's belief that it is bound by a circuit court's previous Erie decision in light of the recent Winter Panel decision. Part II demonstrates that, despite the doctrine of precedent, district courts are not invariably bound by the diversity decisions of their circuit courts under the modem Erie doctrine, and therefore, should independently determine the state issues before them. Part III returns to Winter Panel and examines how the District Court of Massachusetts …

Gestation, Intent, And The Seed: Defining Motherhood In The Era Of Assisted Human Reproduction, Malina Coleman

Cardozo Law Review

This Article examines whether legal motherhood should be based on the preconception intentions of the two women who contribute a reproduction function, on genetic contribution, or on gestation. After assessing the costs and benefits that the various rules generate, the Article recommends that intent should be the determinative factor, but only if a system of rules is in place to protect against overreaching in surrogacy agreements. Otherwise, motherhood should be based on gestation alone.

A New Use For An Old License: Who Owns The Right?, Barbara D. Griff

Cardozo Law Review

In order to establish this referential background, this Note begins in Part I with a look at historic new use cases focusing on whether a grant of dramatic rights included motion picture rights, whether a grant of silent motion picture rights included rights to talkies, and whether motion picture rights included television rights. Part I continues with a survey of the current landscape and provides an overview of cases involving a grant of motion picture or television rights seeking to include videocassette rights when the original contract was signed prior to the invention or popularization of the video cassette recorder …

State Of Israel V. Apropim, Aharon Barak, Dov Levin, Eliahu Mazza

Translated Opinions

Facts: Because of large-scale immigration from the countries of the former Soviet Union, the appellant wished to encourage the speedy building of residential apartments. This was done within the framework of a ‘Programme Contract’, which gave incentives to builders in the form of a State guarantee to buy apartments that were not sold on the open market, and it provided for sanctions in the event of delays. The incentives were particularly significant in development areas, where the State undertook to buy all the apartments that were not sold on the open market. However, the contract was drafted carelessly, and it …

Dirigisme And The Challenge Of Competition Law In France, David J. Gerber, Richard Azarnia

Cardozo Journal of International and Comparative Law

The article examines the tension between France's dirigiste traditions and the introduction of competition law, particularly through the 1986 Competition Statute. While the statute aimed to establish legal principles to protect competition and reduce government discretion, the enduring influence of dirigisme—emphasizing state control and administrative prerogatives—continues to challenge the effectiveness of competition law. The *Ville de Pamiers* case highlights this conflict, as it tests the boundaries of competition law's applicability to public services and administrative acts. The analysis reveals that the struggle to balance competition law with dirigiste traditions reflects broader conflicts in redefining the role of government in a …

Hermeneutics And Contract Default Rules: An Essay On Lieber And Corbin, Lawrence A. Cunningham

Cardozo Law Review

The most provocative debate in contemporary contract law scholarship concerns default rule analysis. Dozens of law review articles have been devoted to this, puzzle regarding the manner in which courts do or should fill gaps in incomplete contracts. The timing and course of this debate might have been very different, however, except for an accident of intellectual history.

Institutions And Linguistic Conventions: The Pragmatism Of Lieber's Legal Hermeneutics, Guyora Binder

Cardozo Law Review

Like many other forms of social thought, legal theory has, over the last quarter century, taken an "interpretive" turn. Recent and contemporary writing on legal hermeneutics may be credited with two sensible but unsurprising claims about legal language.

Nahmani V. Nahmani, Tova Strasberg-Cohen, Aharon Barak, Dov Levin, Itzchak Zamir, Tzevi Eliyahu Tal

Translated Opinions

Facts: Ruth and Daniel Nahmani, a married couple, were unable to have a child because of an operation that Ruth underwent. They therefore decided to try in-vitro fertilization of Ruth’s ova with Daniel’s sperm and implanting the fertilized ova in a surrogate mother. Under Israeli law, surrogacy was not permitted and in-vitro fertilization was only permitted for implantation in the mother. Because of the great expense of the in-vitro fertilization procedure in the United States, the couple petitioned the Supreme Court, sitting as the High Court of Justice, to allow the in-vitro fertilization procedure to be conducted in Israel, for …

The Scienter Requirement And Wash Trading In Commodity Futures: The Knowledge Lost In Knowing, Charles R.P. Pouncy

Cardozo Law Review

On September 1, 1990, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission ("CFTC" or "Commission") issued a complaint and notice of hearing in which it alleged, inter alia, that on over sixty occasions during the period of June 23, 1987 through September 17, 1987, brokers on New York City's Coffee, Sugar, and Cocoa Exchange had executed wash trades on behalf of a number of Japanese foreign brokers. Wash trading, which is prohibited by section 4c of the Commodity Exchange Act ("the Act"), consists of the simultaneous purchase and sale of the same number of futures contracts at the same or very similar …

The Robinson-Patman Act Sections 2(D) And 2(E): Promotional Allowances And The Per Se Rule Of Illegality, Julian Chung

Cardozo Law Review

The Robinson-Patman Act (the "Act"), as part of the antitrust laws, was designed to prevent direct and indirect price discrimination. Specifically, the Act prohibits price discrimination through the use of certain types of discounts granted by sellers to select customers. Sections 2(d) and 2(e) of the Act attempt to further this prohibition by expressly regulating promotional allowances and services. Although Federal Trade Commission ("FTC") enforcement of the sections has declined, private litigation under sections 2(d) and 2(e) of the Robinson-Patman Act has recently been revived. Three recent suits involving the compact disc ("CD") market exemplify this trend. Retailers of CDs …

Stand By Your Man?: Legal Protection For Wives Who Charge The Family Home To Secure Their Husbands' Business Debts, Belinda Fehlberg

Cardozo Journal of Equal Rights & Social Justice

The article examines the legal protections for wives in England who charge the family home as security for their husbands' business debts, focusing on the challenges in balancing private family dynamics with third-party creditor rights. It critiques the limited protection offered by the law, particularly through the lens of the House of Lords' rulings in Barclays Bank v. O'Brien and CIBC Mortgages v. Pitt. The analysis highlights the tension between protecting vulnerable wives and maintaining the viability of the family home as collateral for business loans.

Grant Gilmore, Holmes, And The Anxiety Of Influence, Charles M. Yablon

Articles

The article explores Grant Gilmore's ambivalent relationship with Oliver Wendell Holmes, particularly in The Death of Contract. Gilmore both praises Holmes's intellectual brilliance and critiques his formalistic approach to contract law. Drawing on Harold Bloom's The Anxiety of Influence, the analysis suggests that Gilmore engages in a struggle with Holmes's legacy, reflecting a mix of admiration and opposition, akin to how strong poets handle influential predecessors.

Environmental Performance Review: Self-Regulation In Environmental Law, Eric Bregman, Arthur Jacobson

Cardozo Law Review

Americans have explored self-regulation as a strategy for the legal treatment of environmental issues only slowly and reluctantly. This is surprising. The intellectual roots of environmentalism, after all, are in ecology, the science of self-regulating, autonomous systems. With the notable exception of the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 ("NEPA"), the image of the human actor in environmental regulation has been that of a threat to, rather than a participant in, the ecological systems which regulation is designed to protect by controlling human interventions. The role of regulation, from this perspective, is to stop avoidable interventions and to control the …