Contracts Commons^™

Origin Myths, Contracts, And The Hunt For Pari Passu, Mark C. Weidemaier, Robert E. Scott, G. Mitu Gulati

Faculty Scholarship

Sovereign loans involve complex but largely standardized contracts, and these include some terms that no one understands. Lawyers often account for the existence of these terms through origin myths. Focusing on one contract term, the pari passu clause, this article explores two puzzling aspects of these myths. First, it demonstrates that the myths are inaccurate as to both the clause’s origin and the role of lawyers in contract drafting. Second, the myths often are unflattering, inaccurately portraying lawyers as engaged in little more than rote copying. The article probes this disjunction between the myths and lawyers’ actual practices and explores …

Hoffman V. Red Owl Stores And The Limits Of The Legal Method, Robert E. Scott

Faculty Scholarship

According to the overwhelming majority view, promissory estoppel is not an appropriate ground for legally enforcing statements made during preliminary negotiations unless there is a “clear and unambiguous promise” on which the counterparty reasonably and foreseeably relies. Bill Whitford and Stewart Macaulay were among the first scholars to note the apparent absence of such a promise in the case of Hoffman v. Red Owl Stores. Several years ago, after studying the trial record, I concluded that the best explanation for the breakdown in negotiations was the fundamental misunderstanding between the parties as to the amount and nature of Hoffmann’s …

When Your Body Is Your Business, Mary P. Byrn, Morgan L. Holcomb

Faculty Scholarship

Surrogacy in the United States is a multi-million dollar industry in which well paid professionals seek out highly specialized women to fulfill the difficult job of being a surrogate. Surrogates enter lengthy contracts in which they agree, in intricate detail, to provide a service for significant compensation - surrogates are paid well over $22 million dollars a year. This article argues that surrogates are also professionals in this for-profit industry and are required to report surrogacy compensation as income. As a corollary, surrogates may deduct most of their surrogacy related expenses as business deductions. Being a surrogate is a highly …

The Reverse-Morals Clause: The Unique Way To Save Talent's Reputation And Money In A New Era Of Corporate Crimes And Scandals, Porcher L. Taylor Iii, Fernando M. Pinguelo, Timothy D. Cedrone

School of Professional and Continuing Studies Faculty Publications

This article sails into the largely unchartered waters of reverse-morals clauses because, to our knowledge, there are no law review or law journal articles that substantially address this still nascent area of law.²⁵ Similarly, our research has not revealed any state or federal cases involving reverse-morals clauses.²⁶ Nor has an actual talent contract containing such a clause been publicly revealed, either in terms of language or the identification of the parties to such a clause,²⁷ although reportedly "an increasingly larger number" of talent are now asking for reverse-morals clauses in the wake of the Enron fallout and …

Where Is Emily Litella When You Need Her?: The Unsuccessful Effort To Craft A General Theory Of Obligation Of Promise For Benefit Received, Edwin J. Butterfoss, Henry Allen Blair

Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.

The Promissory Character Of Adequate Assurances Of Performance, Michael J. Borden

Law Faculty Articles and Essays

Part I provides the reader with an account of the development of the doctrine of adequate assurances from its earliest roots in the doctrine of anticipatory repudiation. Part II explains the workings of the modern doctrine in the context of a recent case. In Part III, I argue that promises made in response to a demand for adequate assurances can be understood as a class of enforceable promises. In Parts IV and V, I attempt to work out the back-end consequences that would result from treating assurances as enforceable promises.

Blame, Praise And The Structure Of Legal Rules, Lawrence Solan

Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.

Unstacking The Deck - Contract Manipulation And Credit Card Accountability, Eric A. Zacks

Law Faculty Research Publications

No abstract provided.

Mending The Gap: The Use Of Common Law To Supplement Virtual Mass Contracts, Floyd Morris

Student Works

No abstract provided.

Rethinking Mistake And Nondisclosure In Contract Law, Jeffrey L. Harrison

UF Law Faculty Publications

This Article reconsiders the analysis of the disclosure/nondisclosure issue. Part I of this Article elaborates on the basic model and some of the complexities of identifying the actual impact of nondisclosure. Part II details the social costs of the default nondisclosure rule. In Part III, a case is made that concepts like "mistake" and "defect," both "patent" and "latent," unnecessarily retard allocative efficiency by limiting what must be disclosed. In Part IV, alternatives to the default nondisclosure rule are examined in the context of several cases, some of which have been used to illustrate the virtues of the default rule.

Economic Value, Equal Dignity And The Future Of Sweepstakes, Anthony N. Cabot, Glenn J. Light, Karl F. Rutledge

UNLV Gaming Law Journal

The three basic forms of prize gaming are gambling, sweepstakes, and contests. Most states have a common approach to determining the legality of prize gaming. In general, states analyze if an activity includes three factors associated with gambling: (1) opportunity to win a prize, (2) winning based on chance, and (3) consideration paid to take that chance. If you take away any one of the three elements of gambling—consideration, prize, or chance—you have an activity that is lawful in most states. A contest, for example, differs from gambling because the winner is determined by skill. Determination of whether a (pay-for-play) …

Excuse Doctrine: The Eisenberg Uncertainty Principle, Victor P. Goldberg

Faculty Scholarship

The world is in a bit of a mess. Oil prices soared to more than $140 per barrel and within months plummeted to below $40. The pound fell from $2 to less than $1.40. Housing and stock prices crashed. Foreclosures, bankruptcies, and bailouts became newspaper staples. When things go awry like this, inevitably many people and firms regret having entered into contracts under more favorable circumstances. Many of them will be looking for ways to limit, or better yet, avoid the consequences. A preeminent contracts scholar, Melvin Eisenberg (2009), has provided them with considerable ammunition in a recent paper, arguing …

"No Man Can Be Worth $1,000,000 A Year": The Fight Over Executive Compensation In 1930s America, Harwell Wells

University of Richmond Law Review

No abstract provided.

Rethinking Consideration In The Electronic Age, Robert A. Hillman, Maureen O'Rourke

Cornell Law Faculty Publications

Our fast-paced age of electronic agreements that ostensibly govern transactions as diverse as downloading software, ordering goods, and engaging in collaborative development projects raises questions regarding the suitability of contract law as the appropriate legal framework. While this question arises in many settings, we focus here on the free and open source software (FOSS) movement because of the maturity and success of its model and the ubiquity of its software. We explore in particular whether open source licenses are supported by consideration, and argue that they are, and that open source licenses are contracts. We further argue that a contractual …

Contract Law In Context: The Case Of Software Contracts, Robert A. Hillman

Cornell Law Faculty Publications

The membership of The American Law Institute unanimously approved the “Principles of the Law of Software Contracts” in May of 2009. In this essay for a symposium in the Wake Forest Law Review, I draw on my experience as Reporter on the ALI project to add my perspective on an interesting general question: Is specialization of contract law wise and, if so, in what contexts? I certainly cannot definitively answer the question of whether in the abstract society is better off with general or specialized law, but my experience in drafting the software rules, along with Associate Reporter, Maureen O'Rourke, …

Readability, Contracts Of Recurring Use, And The Problem Of Ex Post Judicial Governance Of Health Insurance Polices, John Aloysius Cogan, Jr.

Faculty Articles and Papers

While the rhetoric surrounding the passage of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act focused on core issues such as cost, quality, and access to care, the dialog rarely acknowledged a key problem-the fact that most Americans do not understand their health insurance. Simply put, consumers do not fully grasp their health insurance coverage because the jargon found in many health insurance contracts is impenetrable to most Americans. This is disconcerting because consumer-oriented information is central to our increasingly consumer-directed health care system. Consumers are expected to make cost-effective choices among the array of health insurance plans that may be …

A Patent Panacea?: The Promise Of Corbinized Claim Construction, Jonathan L. Moore

Law Student Publications

A patent's claims define the scope of a patent-holder's right to exclude others. Because patent infringement actions often hinge on how a court construes claim terms, the interpretative approach that a court uses has a significant effect on the scope ofpatent rights. This article examines claim construction through the lens of contract law. In theory, the Federal Circuit has explicitly rejected the application of contract interpretation principles to claim construction, despite historical acceptance of the patent-contract analogy. In practice, however, the Federal Circuit applies the theory of contract interpretation espoused by Samuel Williston, a theory that focuses on the text …

When Selling Your Personal Name Mark Extends To Selling Your Soul, Yvette Joy Liebesman

All Faculty Scholarship

Identifying one’s business with one’s personal name has long been a practice in the United States. As Personal Name Marks have become increasingly commodified, however, bargaining and deal-making has led more and more to transfers of rights which had previously been considered to be closely tied to the individual as a private person. This article posits that freedom of contract doctrine should not allow the complete alienation of all aspects of one’s name, but rather there should be limitations on how far parties may bargain, so that the purchaser cannot acquire the right to control the seller’s private activities. This …

Counterparty Regulation And Its Limits: The Evolution Of The Credit Default Swaps Market, Houman B. Shadab

NYLS Law Review

No abstract provided.

Margae, Inc. V. Clear Link Technologies, Jonathan Goodman

NYLS Law Review

No abstract provided.

On The Continued Vitality Of Securities Arbitration: Why Reform Efforts Must Not Preclude Predispute Arbitration Clauses, Alicia J. Surdyk

NYLS Law Review

No abstract provided.

The Inherent Tension Between Value Creation And Value Claiming During Bargaining Interactions, Charles B. Craver

Cardozo Journal of Conflict Resolution

This article will discuss the inherent tension present in almost all legal and commercial negotiations between value creation and value claiming. How should interactants use integrative techniques to discover areas for potential joint gains, and how should they determine the actual value of the gains achieved? The article will then explore the way in which proficient negotiators employ distributive tactics to claim a greater share of the surplus for themselves. Before we examine those issues, however, we must consider different negotiator styles and the ways in which those styles influence value creation and value claiming.

Reply: Clawback To The Future, Miriam A. Cherry, Jarrod Wong

Faculty Publications

(Excerpt)

In Clawbacks: Prospective Contract Measures in an Era of Excessive Executive Compensation and Ponzi Schemes (the “Article”), we undertook the task of proposing a doctrine of clawbacks that would not only furnish a framework for analyzing the term more systematically, but would also describe the ways the doctrine would relate to established rules of contract law. With his response, In the Shadow of the Omnipresent Claw: In Response to Professors Cherry & Wong (the “Response”), Michael Macchiarola has provided us with an opportunity to articulate these thoughts on the doctrine of clawbacks further, and for that opportunity and his …

Protecting Free Speech For Unequivocal Fair Users: Rethinking Our Interpretation Of The §512(F) Misrepresentation Clause, Jordan Koss

Cardozo Arts & Entertainment Law Journal

No abstract provided.

Keep Arbitration Alive: Why The Fairness In Nursing Home Arbitration Act Should Not Be Passed, Margaret Baumer

Cardozo Journal of Conflict Resolution

Like it or not, arbitration agreements are part of our lives. Most cell phone and credit card companies include arbitration agreements in their customer contracts. Furthermore, many consumer complaints regarding trades through the National Association of Securities Dealers (NASD) are resolved through arbitration. However, despite their pervasiveness, consumers generally remain ignorant of arbitration agreements until a dispute arises, whereupon they discover that they must submit to arbitration proceedings, rather than sue sellers. Often, arbitration carries with it the added disappointment of high fees and perceived arbitrator bias in favor of the business entity. The same is true of a nursing …

Blues Lives: Promise And Perils Of Musical Copyright, Olufunmilayo B. Arewa

Cardozo Arts & Entertainment Law Journal

No abstract provided.

The Reverse-Morals Clause: The Unique Way To Save Talent's Reputation And Money In A New Era Of Corporate Crimes And Scandals, Porcher L. Taylor Iii, Fernando M. Pinguelo, Timothy D. Cedrone

Cardozo Arts & Entertainment Law Journal

No abstract provided.

The New Price To Play: Are Passive Online Media Users Bound By Terms Of Use, Woodrow Hartzog

Faculty Scholarship

When individuals turn on the television, listen to the radio, or purchase newspapers, they are not forming contractual relationships. Yet, almost without exception, online readers, viewers and listeners are required to enter into "terms of use" contracts. These ubiquitous agreements are generally unfavorable for the user in areas of intellectual property rights and privacy. In addition, the terms often restrict users' behavior and their ability to litigate any disputes with a Web site. In analyzing the implications of contracts for Web site users, this article examines whether courts have recognized a distinction between online consumers, interactive users, and "passive media …

Expectation Damages, The Objective Theory Of Contracts, And The "Hairy Hand" Case: A Proposed Modification To The Effect Of Two Classical Contract Law Axioms In Cases Involving Contractual Misunderstandings, Daniel P. O'Gorman

Kentucky Law Journal

No abstract provided.

The Grapes Of Wrathful Heirs: Terminations Of Transfers Of Copyright And "Agreements To The Contrary", Michael J. Bales

Cardozo Arts & Entertainment Law Journal

No abstract provided.