Contracts Commons^™

Critiques Of The Limits Of Freedom Of Contract: A Rejoinder, Michael J. Trebilcock

Osgoode Hall Law Journal

This rejoinder to the foregoing critiques of the author's book, The Limits of Freedom of Contract, focuses on several themes: a) what range of contractually-related issues do courts possess the requisite institutional competence to address? b) whether problematic normative issues in contract law are amenable to rational analysis and at least provisional resolution, or are inherently indeterminate, contingent, and political? c) what the value of individual autonomy implies in terms of the type of transactions parties should be permitted to engage in? d) whether an "internal" rather than consequentialist theory of contract law is conceivable? and e) whether autonomy values …

Michael And Me: A Postmodern Friendship, Allan C. Hutchinson

Osgoode Hall Law Journal

This paper offers a review of The Limits of Freedom of Contract as an exercise in postmodern critique and politics. It examines the extent to which the book is informed by the postmodern motifs of contingency and indeterminacy. It attributes difficulties in Michael's analysis to a lack of postmodern nerve. Finally, it provides a contrast to a law-and-economics notion of citizenship which is applied to the problem of racist practices in the marketplace.

The Dilemma Of Choice: A Feminist Perspective On The Limits Of Freedom Of Contract, Gillian K. Hadfield

Osgoode Hall Law Journal

In this essay I explore what Michael Trebilcock's work in The Limits of Freedom of Contract offers feminists in terms of a resolution or transcendance of the dilemma of choice. Trebilcock's work does not address the deepest feminist concerns about conflicts between autonomy and welfare, but it does shed light on narrower versions of the dilemma, providing an analytical framework for the feminist dilemma of choice and emphasizing the pervasiveness of this problem in contract law. Trebilcock's recommendation that society simultaneously use different institutions to promote different values also has salience for the feminist dilemma of choice.

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 …

15th Annual Legal Issues For Financial Institutions Conference, Office Of Continuing Legal Education At The University Of Kentucky College Of Law, Walter R. Byrne Jr, Mark F. Sommer, Lisa Koch Bryant, Leonard A. Watkins, Thomas W. Grundy, Joann B. Heppermann, James C. Seiffert, William H. Haden Jr., T. Richard Riney, Marcus P. Mcgraw, W. Bradford Boone, John T. Mcgarvey, James F. Rose, J. Rick Jones, M. Thurman Senn, M. Brooks Senn

Continuing Legal Education Materials

Program and materials from the 15th Annual Legal Issues for Financial Institutions Conference held by UK/CLE on March 10-11, 1995.

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 …

Newsletter Vol.23 No.1 1995, National Center For The Study Of Collective Bargaining In Higher Education And The Professions

National Center Newsletters

No abstract provided.

In Defense Of The Impossibility Defense, Gerhard Wagner

Loyola University Chicago Law Journal

No abstract provided.

Caught Between Rocks And Hard Places: The Plight Of Reinsurance Intermediaries Under U.S. And English Law, Stephen W. Schwab, Peter G. Gallanis, David E. Mendelsohn, Bradley V. Ritter

Michigan Journal of International Law

Accordingly, Part I of this article provides a review of the role intermediaries have played in the recent spate of insurance company insolvencies and an overview of intermediary rights and duties. Part II then progresses to a discussion of English intermediary law, analyzing how the general English rules apply to intermediaries when a cedent or reinsurer becomes insolvent. Part III addresses the same issues under U.S. law, tracing the most recent statutory developments from their cause and considering their effect on reinsurance transactions. This article concludes with a discussion of how English and U.S. law interact in reinsurance transactions, pointing …

Warranties Against Infringement In The Sale Of Goods: A Comparison Of U.C.C. § 2-312(3) And Article 42 Of The U.N. Convention On Contracts For The International Sale Of Goods, Joseph J. Schwerha Iv

Michigan Journal of International Law

Gone are the days of simple sales contracts. Today's corporate lawyers must have not only a substantial understanding of basic commercial law, but also of the related intellectual property law. Because of the shrinking global economy, such knowledge must rise to an international level.

Interpreting Insurance Policies, Jeffrey W. Stempel

Scholarly Works

Like any other contract, an insurance policy may become the subject of a legal dispute. When disputes arise over insurance coverage, lawyers must combine their skill in contract interpretation with their knowledge of insurance law, bringing both to bear on the special problems related to this type of contract. Each dispute has unique traits, but a few basic ground rules of contract law and insurance law can help you interpret insurance policies and resolve disputes over insurance coverage.

Internal Governance Standards, Suramya Balachandran

LLM Theses and Essays

Corporate control has a variety of connotations; it can mean the group of individuals who are regarded as “the control” of a corporation, the office of a corporation, or a fiduciary relationship between the office holder and the corporation. Corporate control transactions are changes in a corporation’s structure motivated by the desire for growth of the corporation, such as setting up new divisions, acquiring or being acquired by another corporation, selling or buying stock, and entering or leaving markets. Control transactions have been a successful business practice since the 1980s. The first part of this thesis analyzes the benefits of …

They Came From "Beyond The Pale": Security Interests In Tort Claims, Harold R. Weinberg

Law Faculty Scholarly Articles

"[B]eyond the pale" is how the drafters of Article Nine of the Uniform Commercial Code regarded tort claims. They considered tort claims to be noncommercial assets inappropriate for inclusion as collateral within the scope of a commercial financing statute. Tort claims may not be out-of-bounds much longer. The Article Nine Study Committee of the Permanent Editorial Board for the Uniform Commercial Code recommends expansion of the Article's scope to encompass security interests in claims arising out of tort. This recommendation is significant. Tort causes of action comprise an ever-expanding universe of civil wrongs for which courts afford redress. The owners …

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.

Much Ado About Nothing: Achieving "Essential" Negotiability In An Electronic Environment, David Frisch

Law Faculty Publications

The approach adopted here is both historical and analytical. Part II of this Article describes the historical development of assignment law, and demonstrates that it parallels a more general shift of the law away from physical conceptions of property. It concludes that although a paper-based document may still be a practical requirement, there is no longer a valid theoretical justification for not making the law of negotiable instruments media neutral. In Part III we survey the features of negotiable instrument law and compare it generally with the law of assignments. This comparison suggests that the most striking substantive difference between …

A Defense Of Judicial Reconstruction Of Contracts, Mark P. Gergen

Indiana Law Journal

No abstract provided.

Forum Selection And Choice Of Law Clauses In International Contracts: A United States Viewpoint With Particular Reference To Maritime Contracts And Bills Of Lading, Phillip A. Buhler

Articles, Book Chapters, & Popular Press

This Article approaches the topic of forum selection from a U.S. perspective. It is reasonable to expect, however, particularly with regard to bills of lading and maritime trade, that the approach of other nations toward international contracts is, or soon will be, very similar. For the sake of simplicity, "choice of law" and "choice of forum" will be addressed together, and referred to as either "choice of forum" or "forum selection." Many contracts only specify a particular forum, while others specify only the application of a particular law. U.S. courts and international conventions have generally taken the same approach to …

Forum Selection And Choice Of Law Clauses In International Contracts: A United States Viewpoint With Particular Reference To Maritime Contracts And Bills Of Lading, Phillip A. Buhler

Articles, Book Chapters, & Popular Press

This Article approaches the topic of forum selection from a U.S. perspective. It is reasonable to expect, however, particularly with regard to bills of lading and maritime trade, that the approach of other nations toward international contracts is, or soon will be, very similar. For the sake of simplicity, "choice of law" and "choice of forum" will be addressed together, and referred to as either "choice of forum" or "forum selection." Many contracts only specify a particular forum, while others specify only the application of a particular law. U.S. courts and international conventions have generally taken the same approach to …

Right Of First Refusal And The Package Deal, Bernard Daskal

Fordham Urban Law Journal

A persistent problem in right-of-first-refusal jurisprudence has been the effect of an acceptable third-party offer for a package of properties, a portion of which is burdened. In determining the effect of such package deals, courts have primarily relied on principles related to the nature and operation of rights of first refusal. Unfortunately, this approach has led different courts to reach disparate and inconsistent results.The problems posed by the package deal, of course, could be remedied by the parties themselves through a provision addressing the effect of such a transaction on the rightholder's privilege. The provision would answer whether the package …

"Instinct With An Obligation" And The "Normative Ambiguity Of Rhetorical Power", Robert A. Hillman

Cornell Law Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Preserving Real Estate Contract Financing In Washington: Resisting The Pressure To Eliminate Forfeiture, Thomas Leo Mckeirnan

Washington Law Review

There is pressure in Washington to abolish the forfeiture remedy from real estate contracts. Eliminating forfeiture would cripple the real estate contract and thus provide a disincentive for sellers to finance sales of their property. This result would be economically unsound and in conflict with the public policy in favor of promoting home ownership. Instead of abolishing forfeiture, the Washington State Legislature should amend current legislation to provide a more sensible and certain forfeiture remedy.

Contracts, Copyright And Preemption In A Digital World, I Trotter Hardy

Richmond Journal of Law & Technology

Copyright is designed to provide some form of protection against unauthorized use of original informational materials. The rapid shift of information production and distribution to electronic form, with its corresponding ease of copying, naturally makes copyright-dependent industries nervous. Much talk in the news and on the "net" these days is about the future of copyright law, a law developed in an age of print and now perhaps too tied to that medium to have ready application to today's information technology.

Severability In Statutes And Contracts, Mark L. Movsesian

Faculty Publications

Established doctrine on the severability of unconstitutional statutory provisions has drawn criticism on almost every conceivable basis. Commentators have condemned severability doctrine as too malleable and as too rigid; as encouraging judicial overreaching and as encouraging judicial abdication. They have criticized the doctrine's reliance on legislative intent and its disregard of legislative intent; its excessive attention to political concerns and its inattention to political concerns; its lack of any coherent explanation.

The reasons for this lingering controversy are easy to discern. One is purely pragmatic. "We live in an age of statutes." Legislation provides our primary source of law in …

Fiduciary Rules And Rupa, J. Dennis Hynes

Publications

No abstract provided.

The Value Of Public-Notice Filing Under Uniform Commercial Code Article 9: A Comparison With The German Legal System Of Securities In Personal Property, Jens Hausmann

LLM Theses and Essays

In contrast to the public-notice filing system under U.C.C. Article 9, the modern German law of securities in personal property lacks publicity of security interests. The German courts have developed a mesh of priority rules exhaustively described in this analysis. Despite the costs and risks arising under the formal filing system, the U.C.C. accomplishes a preferable balance of interests involved in secured transactions. It assures certainty to creditors about the priority of security interests in particular assets, whereas the German law comprehensively recognizes the debtor’s interest in the secrecy of the transaction and the need for external capital. Regarding the …

International Arbitration And Procedures To Enforce Awards In The Relationship Between The United States And Germany, Michael Kronenburg

LLM Theses and Essays

Arbitration has long been regarded as a process that combines finality of decision with speed, low expense, and flexibility in solving problems. For these reasons, arbitration is often favored over litigation for dispute resolution. Particularly in international cases, a businessman may avoid litigation in a foreign country for various reasons: he may be unfamiliar with the proceedings; he may be afraid to find a “forum hostile” because of the different legal and cultural background of the judges; and he may wish to avoid the uncertainty concerning the law arising from the contract. Arbitration proceedings have been held constitutional by the …

Job Security: Protecting At-Will Employees With Good Cause Legislation, Mayumi Yokoyama

LLM Theses and Essays

Recent decades have witnessed significant developments in employment termination law in the United States. In particular, the long-standing “at-will” doctrine, under which employers can fire employees for good, bad, or no reason at all, has experienced great erosion and wide variations in law from state to state. There has been a movement of statutory and common law restrictions limiting an employer’s freedom to terminate at will, which reflects the increasing consciousness of job security by society and workers. This paper analyzes the problem of job security by tracing the origin of the at-will doctrine to 19th century principles favoring economic …