Contracts Commons^™

Altering Rules: The New Frontier For Corporate Governance, Gabriel Rauterberg, Sarath Sanga

Articles

Corporate law has taken a contractarian turn. Shareholders are increasingly contracting around its foundational rules—statutory rights, the fiduciary duty of loyalty, even the central role of the board—and Delaware courts are increasingly enforcing these contracts. In the one case where they did not, the legislature swiftly overruled the decision and adopted a new statutory provision permitting boards to completely cede their powers to a shareholder by contract. These developments have sparked a polarized debate, with some calling for a return to mandatory rules, while others push for total contractual freedom.

We argue, however, that the best approach lies neither in …

Learning From Mistakes: A Quantitative Comparative Study Of Court Decisions Involving The Excuse Of Contractual Mistake, Brian Mccall

Faculty Articles

In almost two decades of teaching Contracts law to first year law students, I have found one of the hardest doctrines to teach to be the excuse of mistake, both mutual and unilateral Students typically express the frustration that they cannot articulate a clear standard to determine when a party’s claim of an excusing mistake will succeed or fail. This frustration with the doctrine seems to be thousands of years old. After years of struggling to teach this topic, I resolved to dig deeper into the caselaw to see if any trends could be observed that would help dispel some …

Arbitrator Selection Default Rules, Irene M. Ten Cate

American University Law Review

This Article makes the case for changing the default settings for the selection of arbitrators in international commercial arbitration. For three-member tribunals, the rules of most international arbitration institutions provide that each party picks an arbitrator. The institution or the co-arbitrators then select the tribunal’s president. This prescription, which parties may set aside by agreement, codifies longstanding practices and corresponds to the strong preference of international arbitration insiders. Nonetheless, I argue that arbitration rules should default toward institutional selection of all arbitrators.

Switching the default nudges parties that can’t take full advantage of the arbitrator selection game—due to inexperience, lack …

What Might Contract Theory Be?, Gregory Klass

Georgetown Law Faculty Publications and Other Works

Few contract theories begin with so comprehensive a discussion of method as does Stephen Smith’s book, Contract Theory. In the first chapter, “What Is Contract Theory,” Smith describes an interpretive approach guided by four goals: fit with the existing law, internal coherence, moral attractiveness, and transparency to legal actors.

This chapter in Understanding Private Law: Essays in Honour of Stephen A. Smith, does a deep dive into Smith’s description and defense of those goals. Smith pictures the contract theorist as an observer standing outside legal practice, interpreting the law but not participating in it. That picture results in …

Property And Information, Jeanne L. Schroeder, David G. Carlson

Articles

The article proceeds as follows. As the information theory is a reaction to legal realism, Part I explores its antecedents in the work of Wesley Newcomb Hohfeld and Ronald H. Coase. Part II presents the information theory as arising from Professor Smith’s interpretation of the Coase theorem.11 In the imaginary world of TC0, we are supposedly indifferent to organizing by property and organizing by contract. Property eclipses contract as the organon of the economy because property reduces the cost of delineation and processing—of speaking and comprehending. We show that this theory is founded on a misunderstanding of Coase. Part III …

Kedudukan Surat Keterangan Riwayat Tanah (Skt) Sebagai Alas Hak Kepemilikan Dan Penguasaan Tanah Yang Dikeluarkan Pada Saat Status Sengketa (Studi Putusan Mahkamahagung Nomor 1606 K/Pdt/2022), Helena Albright T Sitompul

Indonesian Notary

Artikel ini membahas mengenai kedudukan Surat Keterangan Riwayat Tanah (SKT) yang dijadikan sebagai bukti kepemilikan dan bukti hak dalam melakukan penguasaan atas tanah yang menjadi objek sengketa dalam Putusan Mahkamah Agung Nomor 1606/K/Pdt/2022. Pokok permasalahan dalam artikel ini adalah perihal SKT yang menjadi alas hak dalam menguasai tanah, ternyata dikeluarkan pada saat telah terjadi sengketa diatasnya. Penulisan artikel ini dilakukan denganmetode penelitian hukum doktrinal dengan tipologi penelitian preskriptif analisis, jenis data berupa data sekunder, dengan alat pengumpulan studi dokumen, serta analisis dilakukan secara kualitatif. Hasil peneliDan menunjukkan, bahwa SKT bukanlah bukti kepemilikan atas tanah, dan apabila merujuk pada Pasal 97 …

Perjanjian Kawin Yang Dibuat Di Hadapan Notaris Namun Tidak Didaftarkan Ke Dukcapil Terkait Dengan Pihak Ketiga (Studi Putusan Pengadilan Tinggi Semarang Nomor 50/Pdt/2021/Pt Smg), Chantiqa Dwi Ayudhia C

Indonesian Notary

Perjanjian Kawin yang dibuat pada saat atau sebelum perkawinan oleh calon pasangan suami istri mulai berlaku sejak perkawinan dilangsungkan dan disahkan pegawai pencatat perkawinan sebagaimana diatur dalam Pasal 29 ayat 1 UU Perkawinan Tahun 1974. Pendaftaran tersebut dimaksudkan sebagai bentuk pemenuhan syarat publisitas agar pihak ketiga dapat tunduk ke dalam isi perjanjian kawin yang dibuat. Penelitian ini menganalisis terkait Akta Perjanjian Kawin yang dijadikan dasar seorang istri melakukan perbuatan jual beli sepihak tanpa sepengetahuan dan tanpa persetujuan suaminya terhadap aset SHM 2233/Rejosari yang diperoleh sepanjang perkawinan kepada pihak ketiga dalam kasus Putusan Pengadilan Tinggi Semarang nomor 50/PDT/2021/PT Smg namun faktanya …

Analisis Pelampauan Jangka Waktu Perjanjian Sewa Menyewa Yang Dibuat Berdasarkan Perjanjian Bangun Guna Serah Sebagai Bentuk Pemanfaatan Aset Daerah, Syafa Nissa Amanda

Indonesian Notary

Perjanjian sekunder atau perjanjian yang dibuat berdasarkan perjanjian induk atau utama harus sejalan dan tidak bertentangan satu sama lain. Suatu perjanjian dikatakan sah apabila memenuhi syarat sah perjanjian yang tertuang dalam Pasal 1320 Kitab Undang-Undang Hukum Perdata (“KUHPerdata”). Penelitian ini membahas mengenai bagaimana pengaturan dan penerapan perjanjian kerjasama Bangun Guna Serah dan juga membahas bagaimana kedudukan perjanjian sewa menyewa yang dibuat berdasarkan perjanjian Kerjasama Bangun Guna Serah. Penelitian ini menggunakan metode penilitian doktrinal, dengan tipe penelitian eksplanatoris. Berdasarkan hasil penelitian yang dilakukan, didapatkan simpulan bahwa ketentuan pelaksanaan Bangun Guna Serah atas aset milik pemerintah daerah telah diatur di beberapa ketentuan …

Penerapan Pp No. 35 Tahun 2023 Mengenai Kewajiban Yang Dilematis Bagi Notaris Melaporkan Perjanjian Pengikatan Jual Beli Kepada Badan Pendapatan Daerah, Saarah Faadhilah

Indonesian Notary

Peraturan Pemerintah No. 35 Tahun 2023 tentang Ketentuan Umum Pajak Daerah dan Retribusi Daerah Pasal 60 ayat (1) huruf b PP No. 35 tahun 2023 tersebut, notaris wajib untuk melaporkan perjanjian pengikatan jual beli kepada Kepala Daerah, namun, pada pelaksanaannya dalam Pasal 16 ayat (1) huruf f Undang-Undang Jabatan Notaris notaris wajib untuk menjaga kerahasiaan isi akta. Hal tersebut, menimbulkan adanya disharmonisasi hukum. Penelitian ini bertujuan untuk mengetahui bentuk penerapan Peraturan Pemerintah No. 35 tahun 2023 tentang Ketentuan Umum Pajak Daerah dan Retribusi Daerah terhadap kewajiban pelaporan Perjanjian Pengikatan Jual kepada Badan Pendapatan Daerah karena terdapat konsekuensi yang diterima notaris …

Tanggung Jawab Pejabat Pembuat Akta Tanah Yang Tidak Menindaklanjuti Pembuatan Akta Pemberian Hak Tanggungan (Studi Putusan Pengadilan Negeri Denpasar Nomor 1097/Pdt.G/2020/Pn.Dps), Shanea Gabrielle

Indonesian Notary

Penyaluran dana pinjaman yang dilakukan oleh Perusahaan Pembiayaan Sekunder Perumahan (PPSP) kepada debitor harus disertai dengan jaminan berupa tanah dan bangunan yang telah diikat dengan Hak Tanggungan sebagaimana ketentuan dalam Pasal 11 ayat (2) huruf c angka 1 Peraturan Otoritas Jasa Keuangan Nomor 12/POJK.05/2022 Tahun 2022 tentang Perusahaan Pembiayaan Sekunder Perumahan. Hal tersebut dimaksudkan sebagai tindakan mitigasi risiko bagi PPSP untuk mencegah timbulnya kemacetan pembayaran pinjaman oleh debitor yang semestinya dengan didasarkan oleh iktikad baik. Melalui Akta Pemberian Hak Tanggungan (APHT), PPSP sebagai penyalur pinjaman semestinya mendapatkan kepastian hukum akan adanya jaminan Hak Tanggungan untuk dapat dilakukannya pelelangan atas tanah …

Kepastian Hukum Sertifikat Hak Milik Atas Tanah Bekas Hak Milik Adat Yang Penguasaaannya Diklaim Oleh Subjek Hukum Lain (Studi Putusan Mahkamah Agung Nomor 1012 K/Pdt/2023), Ilma Zhafirah Albar

Indonesian Notary

Sertifikat Hak Milik yang diterbitkan oleh Kantor Pertanahan setempat sudah sepatutnya dianggap sebagai alat pembuktian berkekuatan hukum kuat sebagaimana yang ditentukan dalam Undang-Undang Nomor 5 Tahun 1960 tentang Peraturan Dasar Pokok-pokok Agraria (“UUPA”), serta dalam Peraturan Pemerintah mengenai Pendaftaran Tanah. Permasalahan yang diangkat dalam penelitian ini mengenai ketentuan hukum dalam penyertifikatan tanah bekas hak milik adat yang diperoleh melalui pewarisan dan analisis terhadap pertimbangan hakim dalam putusan tersebut terkait status kepemilikan tanah bekas hak milik adat yang telah disertifikatkan dengan Sertifikat Hak Milik. Penelitian ini berupa penelitian doktrinal dengan tipologi penelitain preskriptif berdasarkan data primer dan sekunder yang dianalisis secara …

Ketidaktepatan Pertimbangan Hukum Majelis Hakim Dalam Membatalkan Surat Keterangan Waris Yang Dibuat Notaris (Studi Putusan Pengadilan Negeri Surabaya Nomor 204/Pdt.G/2023/Pn Sby), Muchammad Kawtsar

Indonesian Notary

Penelitian dilakukan dengan maksud menganalisis ketidaktepatan pertimbangan hukum majelis hakim dalam membatalkan SKW yang dibuat notaris. Penelitian ini merupakan penelitian hukum doktrinal yang memaparkan masalah secara eksplanatoris untuk mengumpulkan data sekunder berupa bahan-bahan hukum melalui studi dokumen. Bahan-bahan yang telah dikumpulkan selanjutnya dianalisis secara kualitatif. Hasil analisis menjelaskan bahwa sebelum penghapusan penggolongan penduduk, masyarakat membuat SKW kepada lembaga-lembaga penerbit seperti lurah/camat, notaris, dan BHP sesuai golongan mereka. Selepas dihapuskan, maka masyarakat bebas hendak membuat SKW di lembaga manapun. Adapun pembatalan SKW yang dibuat notaris oleh majelis hakim berdasarkan pertimbangan hukum dalam Putusan Pengadilan Negeri Surabaya Nomor 204/Pdt.G/2023/PN Sby adalah tidak …

Kedudukan Izin Alokasi Lahan Otorita Batam (Studi Putusan Nomor 12/G/2020/Ptun.Tpi), Hanna Sonia L. Sihotang

Indonesian Notary

Otorita Batam sebagai pihak yang memperoleh hak pengelolaan berdasarkan Keputusan Presiden tetap wajib untuk mendaftarkan hak pengelolaannya pada Kantor Pertanahan Kota Batam yang kemudian menghasilkan Sertipikat Hak Pengelolaan sebagai bukti sah kepemilikan atas tanahnya. Sertipikat ini yang kemudian memberikan wewenang kepada Otorita Batam untuk merencanakan peruntukan dan penggunaan tanah, menyerahkan bagian-bagian dari tanah tersebut kepada pihak ketiga serta menerima uang pemasukan/ganti rugi dan uang wajib tahunan. Permasalahan dalam analisa ini mengenai kedudukan izin alokasi lahan yang diberikan oleh Otorita Batam dan status Sertipikat Hak Guna Bangunan oleh Kantor Pertanahan Kota Batam melalui program Pendaftaran Tanah Sistematis Lengkap dalam Putusan Pengadilan …

The Illusory Coverage Doctrine Is Not A Doctrine At All (But It Should Be), Shannon W. Conway

Catholic University Law Review

The Illusory Coverage Doctrine, if it ever becomes a true legal doctrine, has the potential to be an incredibly useful tool in insurance law. But courts around the country take very different approaches to the doctrine, ranging from one end of the spectrum—a hard-nosed “pro-insurer” stance where coverage is not illusory so long as a policy provides any coverage—to the other—a muscular “pro-policyholder” public policy approach that requires coverage even if some other exclusion might have prevented coverage under the applicable policy. And along the spectrum are various other iterations, contributing to the complete lack of certainty or consistency about …

Boucher V. Maine Employment Security Commission: The Role Of Acceptance In Employment Security Law, Bradley M. Lown

Maine Law Review

The Maine Employment Security Law was enacted in an attempt to limit the serious social consequences of unemployment and to insure individual workers against the distress of involuntary unemployment. Under the law, employees who leave work voluntarily without "good cause" are ineligible for unemployment compensation benefits. Until recently the Maine Supreme Judicial Court had not determined whether a substantial reduction in wages by an employer would constitute good cause to leave work under the "voluntary quit" provision of the law. In Boucher v. Maine Employment Security Commission, however, the Maine Supreme Judicial Court, sitting as the Law Court, determined that …

The Government Contract Defense: Should Manufacturer Discretion Preclude Its Availability?, John D. Pelletier

Maine Law Review

The government contract defense developed in cases involving suits against private contractors for damages arising out of the performance of government public works projects. These cases held private contractors immune from liability for damages necessarily incident to the performance of such projects. In several recent cases, manufacturers have been allowed to raise the government contract defense as a bar to liability for injuries caused by design defects in military products supplied to the United States government. In two of these cases, the defense barred liability on behalf of military suppliers who merely executed the government's mandatory design specifications. In subsequent …

Scrutiny Of Employee Covenants Not To Compete Under The Rule Of Reason: An Empirical Inquiry, Daniel A. Crane

Notre Dame Law Review Reflection

For over 300 years, the common law has scrutinized employee covenants not to compete for their reasonableness. That is about to change. On April 23, 2024, the Federal Trade Commission announced a rule that will prohibit employers from imposing noncompete agreements on workers. The rule declares all covenants not to compete in the employment context to be unfair methods of competition under section 5 of the FTC Act. If the rule takes effect, thirty million contracts will become illegal. The FTC justifies this rule based on the ostensibly pernicious effects of employee covenants not to compete—limiting employee opportunities to pursue …

Discrimination In Contractual Performance: Theory, Evidence, And Preliminary Policy Prescriptions, Meirav Furth-Matzkin

Washington Law Review

This Article examines the often-overlooked practice of “selective performance” of standard form consumer contracts—where sellers permit employees to exercise discretion by waiving or modifying contractual terms to maintain customer satisfaction. While such flexibility can benefit consumers, it raises serious concerns about discrimination. Through both theoretical analysis and empirical evidence, this Article demonstrates that discretionary performance can disproportionately favor certain consumer groups, particularly along racial and gender lines, leading to biased and inequitable outcomes. Drawing on examples from diverse sectors, including retail, insurance, and mortgage services, the Article highlights how marginalized communities, especially Black consumers, frequently face harsher treatment and greater …

New Legal Realism At 20: Rethinking Law In An Era Of Populism And Social Movements, Jeffrey Omari, Pablo Rueda-Saiz, Richard Ashby Wilson

Articles

This Article critically examines the New Legal Realism (NLR) movement on its twentieth anniversary and illuminates its distinctive intellectual contributions. In evaluating NLR's unique methodological and substantive contributions, we explore the movement's relationship to other interdisciplinary theories and empirical approaches to law. NLR approaches show a commitment to a comparative, cross-national exploration of legal phenomena while allowing for grounded generalizations about the relationship between law and society. NLR approaches embrace a diverse range of methods and emphasize the importance of "looking up, down, and sideways." Notably, NLR embraces both "top-down" and "bottom-up" methods, providing comprehensive insights into the intricate interactions …

Nil Enforcement Preemption, Josh Lens

Utah Law Review

The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), which serves as the multibillion-dollar college athletics industry’s primary governing body, has faced several recent legal challenges to its operations. One particularly prominent challenge projects to result in litigation that will significantly impact college athletics’s future. This article explores the circumstances that led to this precarious position: (1) the NCAA’s recent changes to its longstanding rules prohibiting student-athlete compensation for use of their names, images, and likenesses; (2) several state legislatures’ attempts to provide universities in their states with a competitive advantage by legislating restrictions on the NCAA’s ability to enforce its rules; and …

A Call For Statutory Reform: Online Marketplaces That Profit From Product Sales Should Be Held Strictly Liable As Sellers, Mark Anderson

Brooklyn Journal of Corporate, Financial & Commercial Law

Today, Americans purchase roughly 16% of all consumer goods through online marketplaces such as Amazon. While traditional brick-and-mortar retailers that sell defective products are strictly liable for harm caused by those products, online marketplace retailers, which serve analogous roles in defective product sales, can often evade liability entirely. Amazon, for instance, is immune from liability for product defects in more than 60% of sales conducted on its website in almost every state. This Note explains why online marketplaces that profit from defective product sales should be strictly liable for harm those products cause, and why courts often refuse to hold …

Nil: How Third-Party Businesses Exploit Collegiate Student-Athletes With Impunity, Matthew Glogower

Brooklyn Journal of Corporate, Financial & Commercial Law

While there are numerous state NIL (name, image, and likeness) laws protecting student-athletes from economic exploitation, there is no federal law which offers universal protection, nationwide, to student-athletes. State NIL laws offer some protections for student-athletes from exploitation by colleges, universities, and boosters, but there is no protection for student-athletes who sign NIL deals with for-profit third-party businesses. These NIL deals, between the student-athlete and third-party businesses, make up the majority of NIL agreements. Section 6 of the proposed College Athlete Economic Freedom Act (“CAEFA”), titled “Enforcement Provisions,” aims to codify federal protection for student-athletes against colleges, universities, and boosters, …

After Further Review: Are Ncaa Conferences Now Subject To Antitrust Liability?, Madison Huberman

Brooklyn Journal of Corporate, Financial & Commercial Law

Following the Alston decision, the landscape of college athletics has undergone significant transformation. Although the Supreme Court in Alston previously determined that individual conferences lacked power over the relevant market, this is no longer true for all conferences. This note explores the potential antitrust liability facing individual NCAA conferences in the post-Alston era. It reviews the NCAA’s historical context, its member institutions, and the variations in membership across Divisions and sports. The analysis then shifts to the current state of college athletics, including NIL policies, conference realignment, and media rights deals. The note further assesses whether certain conferences are susceptible …

Two Forms Of Formalism In Contract Law, Gregory Klass

Georgetown Law Faculty Publications and Other Works

Formalism in contract interpretation has had many defenders and many critics. What lawmakers need, however, is an account of when formalism works and when it does not. This article addresses that need by providing general theory of contract exposition and differentiating between two salient forms of formalism in contract law. Formalities effect legal change by virtue of their form alone, thereby obviating interpretation. Examples include “as is”, the seal, and sometimes contract boilerplate. Evidentiary formalism, in distinction, limits the evidence that goes into interpretation. Plain meaning rules are an example of evidentiary formalism. The article provides a detailed analysis of …

Two Forms Of Formalism In Contract Law, Gregory Klass

Cardozo Law Review

Formalism in contract interpretation has had many defenders and many critics. What lawmakers need, however, is an account of when formalism works and when it does not. This Article addresses that need by providing a general theory of contract exposition and differentiating between two forms of formalism in contract law. Formalities effect legal change by virtue of their form alone, thereby obviating interpretation. Examples include “as is,” the seal, and sometimes contract boilerplate. Evidentiary formalism, in distinction, limits the evidence that goes into interpretation. Plain meaning rules are an example of evidentiary formalism. This Article provides a detailed analysis of …

A One-Egg Wonder: Working To Cure Judicial Gender Bias And Increase Access To Pre-Embryos For Infertile Parties, Nicole Marks Kaufman

Cardozo Law Review

The first live birth of a child conceived from in vitro fertilization (“IVF”) happened in 1978. Today, over eight million children have been born through IVF procedures. The first dispute over the resulting pre-embryos was in 1990 when the Tennessee Supreme Court outlined a balancing approach with a presumption favoring non-use of the pre-embryos for courts to follow when resolving these matters. Numerous states have taken differing approaches—some have taken a contractual approach, others an approach requiring contemporaneous mutual consent before there can be a departure from the status quo, and very few state legislatures have directly addressed how to …

How To Use The Restatement Of Consumer Contracts: A Guide For Judges, Ian Ayres, Gregory Klass

Georgetown Law Faculty Publications and Other Works

In the absence of major legislation or regulatory action, U.S. consumers will continue to look to courts and the common law for protection when businesses engage in unfair and deceptive contracting practices. In May 2022, the American Law Association approved the Restatement of the Law, Consumer Contracts. This new Restatement provides a valuable resource for courts tasked with deciding the legal effects of standard terms that businesses draft and consumers do not read. This essay identifies six pieces of the new Restatement we believe courts should pay special attention to and discusses the importance of each. It also charts several …

Confirmation Notes In The English Common Law, Ilias Bantekas

Pace Law Review

Confirmation notes allow parties to a final or near-final contract to specify the terms of their agreement and thus render it binding. As a result, the note may take the form of an offer or acceptance or, if so specified by the parties, it may just as well serve as the contract. Where the note does not serve as a contract, the receiver is presumed to have accepted its terms if it has not rejected within reasonable time. A confirmation note that adds, modifies or limits the parties’ original (usually oral) agreement has no effect, unless the receiver unjustifiably delays …

The New Social Contracts, Andrew Keane Woods Professor Of Law

Vanderbilt Law Review

Contracts rule our digital world. Platform terms of service determine speech rights, privacy rights, and much more. This is no accident—from the very beginning, the U.S. model of internet governance was explicitly built around private ordering. In this context, it is worth asking what contract law and contract scholarship have to say about the public harms of digital dealmaking.

The answer, quite surprisingly, is: not much. To be sure, the rise of the digital economy has generated over two decades of sustained scholarship and several huge national reform efforts aimed at updating contract law. But this work has largely focused …

Shifting Towards Boilerplate Regulation, Wayne R. Barnes

University of Miami Law Review

Consumer assent to standard form contracts has been creating cognitive dissonance among contracts scholars for a century. Businesses impose standard forms on consumers, who never read the terms. But consumers would not understand them if they did. And they don’t have the bargaining power to change them anyway—the terms are famously “take it or leave it.” Contracting is ideally theorized as an act of voluntary, knowing consent to all the terms agreed to. The dissonance is that consumers, although ostensibly signaling their assent to the boilerplate by signing (or clicking, or tapping their phone screen), do not in fact know …