Contracts Commons^™

Bringing Continuity To Cryptocurrency: Commercial Law As A Guide To The Asset Categorization Of Bitcoin, Evan Hewitt

Seattle University Law Review

This Note will undertake to analyze bitcoin under the Uniform Commercial Code (UCC) and the Internal Revenue Code (IRC)—two important sources of commercial law—to see whether any existing asset categories adequately protect bitcoin’s commercial viability. This Note will demonstrate that although commercial law dictates that bitcoin should—nay must—be regulated as a currency in order to sustain its existence, the very definition of currency seems to preclude that from happening. Therefore, this Note will recommend that we experiment with a new type of asset that receives currency-like treatment, specifically designed for cryptocurrencies, under which bitcoin can be categorized in order to …

The Theory Of Fields And Its Application To Corporate Governance, Neil Fligstein

Seattle University Law Review

My goal here is twofold. First, I want to introduce the theory of strategic action fields to the law audience. The main idea in field theory in sociology is that most social action occurs in social arenas where actors know one another and take one another into account in their action. Scholars use the field construct to make sense of how and why social orders emerge, reproduce, and transform. Underlying this formulation is the idea that a field is an ongoing game where actors have to understand what others are doing in order to frame their actions. Second, I want …

Agency Theory As Prophecy: How Boards, Analysts, And Fund Managers Perform Their Roles, Jiwook Jung, Frank Dobbin

Seattle University Law Review

In 1976, Michael Jensen and William Meckling published a paper reintroducing agency theory that explained how the modern corporation is structured to serve dispersed shareholders. They purported to describe the world as it exists but, in fact, they described a utopia, and their piece was read as a blueprint for that utopia. We take a page from the sociology of knowledge to argue that, in the modern world, economic theories function as prescriptions for behavior as much as they function as descriptions. Economists and management theorists often act as prophets rather than scientists, describing the world not as it is, …

Law And The Theory Of Fields, Frank Partnoy

Seattle University Law Review

The distinction between “material” and “existential” plays a prominent role in A Theory of Fields, and it played a prominent role in discussions at the Berle VII Symposium. In general, the authors advocated the importance of the ongoing use of social skills and the collaborative efforts to seek meaning, particularly in ways beyond the merely “material.” However, the extent to which rules might matter in these efforts was less clear. Overall, Fligstein and McAdam seek to use the concept of a strategic action field to develop a theory of social change and stability. Yet social change and stability are inextricably …

Notes On The Difficulty Of Studying The Corporation, Marina Welker

Seattle University Law Review

In the award-winning documentary The Corporation, public intellectuals and activists characterize corporations as “externalizing machines,” “doom machines,” “persons with no moral conscience,” and “monsters trying to devour as much profit as possible at anyone’s expense.” In other footage, people on the street personify corporations: “General Electric: a kind old man with lots of stories;” “Nike: young, energetic;” “Microsoft: aggressive;” “McDonald’s: young, outgoing, enthusiastic;” “Monsanto: immaculately dressed;” “Disney: goofy;” “The Body Shop: deceptive.” The documentary, like screenwriter and legal scholar Joel Bakan’s book The Corporation: The Pathological Pursuit of Profit and Power, imparts dissonant messages about corporations. On the one hand, …

Morris Hardwick Order On Motion For Protective Order, Melvin K. Westmoreland

Superior Court of Fulton County: Metro Atlanta Business Case Division Opinions

No abstract provided.

Dong Feng Fang Order On Motions To Dismiss, Melvin K. Westmoreland

Superior Court of Fulton County: Metro Atlanta Business Case Division Opinions

No abstract provided.

A Silver Lining? Impact Of Commodity Price Fall On Good Governance In Sierra Leone, Herbert M'Cleod, Nicolas Maennling, Lisa E. Sachs

Columbia Center on Sustainable Investment Staff Publications

From 2002 to 2013, resource-rich countries in Africa enjoyed the benefits of a commodity boom, using increased revenues to embark on major infrastructure projects in roads, rail, ports, and housing. But when commodity prices fell starting in 2011 (see figure below), public sector revenues took a major hit with private sector companies scaling back operations, delaying investment decisions and suspending unprofitable operations. Especially as the number and size of investments in the sector contracted, Governments felt increased pressure to collect, manage and spend those revenues more efficiently. As a result, the fall in commodity prices and mounting economic pressure actually …

Guide To Land Contracts: Agricultural Projects, International Senior Lawyers Project, Kaitlin Y. Cordes, Sam Szoke-Burke

Columbia Center on Sustainable Investment Staff Publications

Agricultural investment contracts can be complex, with complicated provisions that are difficult to understand. This Guide provides explanations for a range of common provisions, and includes a Glossary of legal and technical terms. It assists non-lawyers in better understanding agricultural investment contracts, such as those available on the Open Land Contracts repository.

The Guide was prepared by International Senior Lawyers Project staff and volunteers in collaboration with the Columbia Center on Sustainable Investment.

Rethinking Promissory Estoppel, Eric Alden

Nevada Law Journal

Samuel Williston, the official Reporter for the ALI’s first Restatement of the Law of Contracts in 1932, claimed that promises had been enforced without consideration in sufficiently many cases across different factual situations that the only way to embrace them all was to create a provision, set forth in Section 90 and generally referred to as “promissory estoppel,” that purports to suspend wholesale the normal rules governing contract formation. This Article challenges that assertion as a factual matter, and challenges the claim that only a provision as broad as Section 90 could accommodate certain limited exceptions to the consideration requirement …

Contracts Governing The Use Of Websites, Eliza Mik

Research Collection Yong Pung How School Of Law

With the progressive transformation of the Internet from a romanticised instrument of freedom and self-expression into a commercial platform for digital distribution, most websites must be recognised as access interfaces to a wide range of content and services. This paper examines the contracts purportedly governing the use of such content and services. It explores the difficulties of establishing legal intention in a context that is not unambiguously commercial or transactional and contrasts popular beliefs with the basic principles of contract law. It draws a clear distinction between contracts governing traditional e-commerce exchanges, such as buying books on Amazon.com, and contracts …

Rationalising Anticipatory Breach In Executed Contracts, Yihan Goh, Man Yip

Research Collection Yong Pung How School Of Law

Rationalising the doctrine of anticipatory breach is notoriously difficult. This may explain the complete lack of attempt by the UK Supreme Court to address its conceptual difficulties in its recent judgment in Bunge SA v Nidera BV [2015] UKSC 43; [2015] 3 All E.R. 1082. It is therefore of interest that the Singapore Court of Appeal in The “STX Mumbai” [2015] SGCA 35; [2015] 5 S.L.R. 1 explained why the doctrine of anticipatory breach can be applied to executed contracts (in the sense of being fully executed by the innocent party). Whilst anticipatory breach applies similarly under English law, the …

Mind The Gap, Charles H. Brower Ii

BYU Law Review

No abstract provided.

Mondi Bags Order On El Dorado Packaging's Objection & Emergency Motion To Quash Subpoena, Elizabeth E. Long

Superior Court of Fulton County: Metro Atlanta Business Case Division Opinions

No abstract provided.

Pulte Home Corporation Order On Plaintiff's Motion For More Definite Statement As To Defendant's Sixth And Ninth Defenses And Motion To Strike Defendant's Third Defense, John J. Goger

Superior Court of Fulton County: Metro Atlanta Business Case Division Opinions

No abstract provided.

Dong Feng Fang Order On Motion To Sever, Melvin K. Westmoreland

Superior Court of Fulton County: Metro Atlanta Business Case Division Opinions

No abstract provided.

Bondholders And Financially Stressed Municipalities, Clayton P. Gillette

Fordham Urban Law Journal

No abstract provided.

Development And Distrust: A Critique Of The Orthodox Path To Economic Prosperity, W. Tyler Perry

Northwestern University Law Review

The dominant strain of law and development theory holds that strong property rights are a necessary condition for economic growth. Nonetheless, China has experienced thirty years of frenetic growth absent strong property rights. This Note explores this phenomenon through an analysis of a unique corporate form that has come to underlie most of the publicly traded Chinese Internet sector—the Variable Interest Entity (VIE). The VIE is, at its core, a series of contracts designed to mimic “true” ownership. As such, the VIE problematizes law and development theory in two primary ways. First, the contract-based ownership system does not provide the …

Kill The Monster: Promissory Estoppel As An Independent Cause Of Action, Susan Lorde Martin

William & Mary Business Law Review

Contract rules may be dissolving into tort-type notions of unfairness and injustice. Traditionally, promissory estoppel was viewed as a substitute for consideration in situations where promisors made promises knowing that promisees would act in reliance on them, the promisees did act on the promises, and the promisors refused to do what they promised to do, to the promisees’ detriment. The purpose of promissory estoppel was clearly one of fairness and preventing injustice by enforcing a promise not supported by consideration in very limited circumstances. In recent cases, however, courts have been approving the use of promissory estoppel as an independent …

Protecting Brand Image Or Gaming The System? Consumer “Gag” Contracts In An Age Of Crowdsourced Ratings And Reviews, Lucille M. Ponte

William & Mary Business Law Review

Traditionally, businesses developed and controlled brand image through company-sponsored advertising and marketing campaigns. With the rise of social media, brand communications have become more interactive, especially on crowdsourced review sites. This increased interactivity helps companies to gain valuable insight into the consumer experience and to improve their brand image and customer engagement. Businesses soon learned that positive consumer ratings and reviews often translated into enhanced brand reputation and increased revenues. Some merchants and professionals seek to burnish their brand image by paying for positive reviews while others try to silence disgruntled customers through adhesive nondisparagement clauses. These gag clauses may …

The Exporting Process: Some Considerations For Practitioners, Albert Caproni Iii

Georgia Journal of International & Comparative Law

No abstract provided.

Uas Investments Llc Order On Motion By Uas, Frisbee And Daryl Moody Regarding Disqualification Of Prior Counsel And Access To Documents, Elizabeth E. Long

Superior Court of Fulton County: Metro Atlanta Business Case Division Opinions

No abstract provided.

Drummond Financial Services Llc Order On Plaintiffs' Motion For Contempt, John J. Goger

Superior Court of Fulton County: Metro Atlanta Business Case Division Opinions

No abstract provided.

Reforming The Federal Arbitration Act To Equalize The Adjudication Rights Of Powerful And Weak Parties, Stephen A. Plass

Catholic University Law Review

Providing an extensive historical overview of federal arbitration jurisprudence and the Federal Arbitration Act (FAA), this article argues that the Supreme Court has misinterpreted FAA provisions and goals, thereby drastically changing the law of labor arbitration to the detriment of American workers and consumers. Namely, original congressional policy goals (providing speedy, fair and informal alternatives to court adjudication) have been countermanded by the Supreme Court’s interpretation of arbitration law over the last 50 years. As a result, modern arbitration law sets up an imbalance of power between employers/merchants and workers/consumers who are forced into lengthy and expensive procedures before they …

State Bans On Debtors' Prisons And Criminal Justice Debt, Christopher D. Hampson

UF Law Faculty Publications

Since the 1990s, and increasingly in the wake of the Great Recession, many municipalities, forced to operate under tight budgetary constraints, have turned to the criminal justice system as an untapped revenue stream. Raising the specter of the "debtors' prisons" once prevalent in the United States, Imprisonment for failure to pay debts owed to the state has provoked growing concern over the year.

This practice both aggravates known racial and socioeconomic inequalities in the criminal justice system and raises additional concerns. First, assessing and collecting such debt may not be justifiable on penal grounds. Second, imprisonment for criminal justice debts …

Contract Meta-Interpretation, Shawn J. Bayern

Scholarly Publications

This Article provides a general framework for resolving the contract law’s ambivalence between textualism and contextualism, one of the most difficult questions in modern contract interpretation. Simply put, the Article’s argument is that courts need to determine the parties’ preferences as to how their contracts should be interpreted; this “meta-interpretive” inquiry can then direct the court’s interpretation or construction of the parties’ substantive rights and duties. Moreover, the Article argues that while contextualist interpretation is not, and should not be, mandatory for all interpretive questions under contract law, contextualism is necessary to resolve the initial “meta-interpretive” question: What interpretive regime …

Principal Investments V. Harrison, 132 Nev. Adv. Op. 2 (Jan. 14, 2016), Katherine Maher

Nevada Supreme Court Summaries

The Court held unless the arbitration agreement commits the question to the arbitrator with “clear and unmistakable” language, a litigation-conduct waiver is presumptively for the court to decide because it is a waiver based on active litigation in court. Thus, the district court judge in this case did not err in addressing whether the moving party waived its right to arbitrate, instead of referring the question to the arbitrator.

William C. Lankford Jr. Order On Petitioner Bennett L. Knight's Motion For Judgment On The Pleadings, Melvin K. Westmoreland

Superior Court of Fulton County: Metro Atlanta Business Case Division Opinions

No abstract provided.

Distributive Justice And Contract Law: A Hohfeldian Analysis, Marco Jimenez

Florida State University Law Review

According to Aristotle, justice consists of giving each person his due: equal members of society should be treated equally, and unequal members, unequally. This justice, in turn, comes in two flavors: distributive and corrective. Distributive justice—which has as its purview society at large—is concerned with distributing society's shares to individuals according to merit. Whereas, the purview of corrective justice concerns voluntary (e.g., contracts) and involuntary (e.g., torts) transactions, and it seeks to rectify unjust alterations in the distributive scheme by returning the parties to the position they occupied before the distributive scheme was altered, which is to say, before a …

The Paradox Of The Right To Contract: Noncompete Agreements As Thirteenth Amendment Violations, Ayesha B. Hardaway

Faculty Publications

There is a growing trend across the nation for employers to require low-level, unskilled workers to execute noncompete agreements as a condition of being hired to work as an at-will employee. The application of noncompete agreements in low-wage positions occupied by unskilled workers is outside of the original scope and purpose of such agreements. These individuals lack both bargaining power and protection from being terminated without cause. Moreover, upon termination of their employment, the executed noncompete agreement can legally prevent these workers from securing employment with another company.

The enforcement of noncompete agreements in these circumstances may require low-level, unskilled …