Contracts Commons^™

Apartments And Houses: The Warranty Of Habitability, Walter H.E. Jaeger

Akron Law Review

“The trend towards greater consumer protection so evident in the products liability field is clearly discernible in the sale of new homes by the builder-vendor, and in the leasing of apartments by landlords. Some of the fundamental concepts of real property law, especially those which make no sense in modern society, have been, or are being, overruled and superseded by more enlightened and public policy-minded decisions of both the federal and state courts. It seems safe to predict that the warranty of habitability which governs the sale of new homes by the builder-vendor, adopted by a substantial majority of jurisdictions, …

Quasi In Rem Jurisdication; Minimum Contacts; State Statutes; Intermeat, Inc. V. American Poultry, Inc., John D. Frisby Jr.

Akron Law Review

"The decision of Intermeat, Inc. v. American Poultry, Inc. is the first decision rendered by a federal appeals court based on the United States Supreme Court decision of Shaffer v. Heitner. The Shaffer Court handed down a landmark decision in 1977 that appeared at first light to aim the principles of quasi in rem jurisdiction in a new direction. From the date of the decision it appeared that a court could no longer take jurisdiction of a lawsuit based merely on the fact that property of the defendant was located in the state in which the suit was filed. However, …

Forfeiture Of Residential Land Contracts In Ohio: The Need For Further Reform Of A Reform Statute, James Geoffrey Durham

Akron Law Review

The purpose of this article is to examine the problems created by Chapter 5313, Installment Land Contracts (the "Act"). In order to do that, the article begins with a background section which more fully describes the type of contractual arrangement under discussion, why people use land contracts, and the economic factors in the current Ohio real estate market which have caused an increase in the use of land contracts and may cause mounting problems with Ohio's land contract statute. The second section describes the common law treatment of land contract defaults and the positions taken by states other than Ohio. …

Judicial Misuses Of The Word Fraud To Defeat The Parol Evidence Rule And The Statute Of Frauds, Morris G. Shanker

Akron Law Review

The courts, of course, continue to recognize that the Parol Evidence Rule exists and to pay lip service to it. However, they have developed a series of so called "exceptions" to its application, and lawyers for litigants have learned these "exception" lessons well. Thus, whenever a client becomes unhappy with one or of more of the terms of a written contract which he signed, his lawyer likely will fish out one of these "exceptions" in an effort to excuse his client from it.

Unfortunately, many Ohio lawyers will not realize that their Supreme Court in its Marion Production Credit Association …

Southern States Chemical Inc., Order On Motions For Summary Judgment, Alice D. Bonner

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

No abstract provided.

Mistaken Identity And Its Effect On Contractual Validity: Some Cases Frm The English Courts, Anthony Finucane

Akron Law Review

The doctrine of mistake has grown increasingly complicated with the passage of time. Nowhere is that complexity more obvious than in the area of unilateral mistake, of which the distinguishing feature is that the mistake made by one party is known to, and almost invariably induced by the fraud of, the other.

Gerber Products Co. Order On Defendant's Motion To Dismiss, Alice D. Bonner

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

No abstract provided.

Depersonalization Of Personal Service Contracts: The Search For A Modern Approach To Assignability, Larry A. Dimatteo

Akron Law Review

The ever-evolving nature of modem commercial transactions dictates the need to review the common law area of personal service contracts. Namely, that when a court labels a contract as one for "personal service," in contrast to the general rule of assignability, it is per se nonassignable. A review of this exception to assignability is suggested when one views the dramatic change in the nature of personal service contracts as well as their increasing popularity.

An Analysis Of Warranty Claims Instituted By Non-Privity Plaintiffs In Jurisdictions That Have Adopted Uniform Commerical Code Section 2-318 (Alternatives B & C), William L. Stallworth

Akron Law Review

The purpose of this Article is to discuss case law developments under Uniform Commercial Code Section 2-318 Alternatives B3 and C.4. The Article will also propose a solution to various problems that arise under section 2-318 in the the law of defenses. In order to follow this discussion, one must understand the law of warranty claims and defenses under Article 2 of the Uniform Commercial Code (henceforth, the "Code" or the "UCC").

The U.C.C. Section 4-205(2) Payment/Deposit Warranty: Allow A Drawer To Hold A Depositary Bank Liable For Collecting An Item With A Forged Indorsement, Richard Scislowski

Akron Law Review

As written, the new section 4-205(2) Payment/Deposit Warranty may provide a new theory upon which to hold a depositary bank liable for handling a stolen check for the benefit of a thief. This Comment will propose that the word "customer" as used in U.C.C. section 4-205 should not be read to include a thief that steals a check, forges an indorsement, and transfers the item to a depositary bank for collection. Such a reading would allow the drawer of the stolen check to sue the depositary bank for breach of warranty. This Comment will first describe the existing recourses available …

Good Faith: A New Look At An Old Doctrine, Robert S. Adler, Richard A. Mann

Akron Law Review

In this article we sketch the basic contours of the contractual policing devices that apply to special relationships and to arm's length transactions. We then explicate in greater detail the duty of good faith under general contract law and the Uniform Commercial Code. Finally, we explore some strategies for shortening arm's length transactions through consensual extensions of the duty of good faith.

Unconscionability As A Contract Policing Device For The Elder Client: How Useful Is It?, Robyn L. Meadows

Akron Law Review

An elder law symposium provides an opportunity to consider ways that the various areas of the law provide protection for the older client. This raises the question of whether the Uniform Commercial Code (hereafter U.C.C. or the Code) protects the unique interests of the older consumer. Such consideration naturally leads to the contract policing device specifically included in the Code—unconscionability. The doctrine of unconscionability provides a way for courts to police grossly unfair contracts and contract provisions. It is found not only in the U.C.C. but also in the tenets of general contract law. However, its application is not limited …

Eden Order On Summary Judgment And Motion To Strike, Alice D. Bonner

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

No abstract provided.

Celebrity Newsgathering And Privacy: The Transformation Of Breach Of Confidence In English Law, John D. Mccamus

Akron Law Review

In recent years, a series of leading cases have returned to consider these questions. The implications of these decisions for the current shape of English law relating to civil redress for privacy invasion are the subject of this article. Surprisingly, perhaps, English courts have remained steadfast in their refusal to recognize invasion of privacy as a tort and in doing so have quite explicitly declined to rely on American experience in this area. Rather, English courts have preferred to resist innovation of this kind and leave the difficult question of privacy law reform to Parliament. On a number of recent …

Off To Elba! The Legitimacy Of Sex Offender Residence And Employment Restrictions, Joseph L. Lester

Akron Law Review

This article will look at why sex offenders are treated differently than other criminal offenders. Sex offenders are subject to sanctions and prohibitions above and beyond what other criminal offenders must face. Next, the article will look at some of the residence and employment restrictions placed on sex offenders to determine if they are rationally related to any legitimate government interest without overbearing the sex offender’s constitutional rights. Finally, the article will offer an alternate means of sex offense prevention that encourages sex offender assimilation back into society instead of further exclusion. This article will focus on those individuals who …

Internet Giants As Quasi-Governmental Actors And The Limits Of Contractual Consent, D. A. Jeremy Telman

Law Faculty Publications

Although the government’s data-mining program relied heavily on information and technology that the government received from private companies, relatively little of the public outrage generated by Edward Snowden’s revelations was directed at those private companies. We argue that the mystique of the Internet giants and the myth of contractual consent combine to mute criticisms that otherwise might be directed at the real data-mining masterminds. As a result, consumers are deemed to have consented to the use of their private information in ways that they would not agree to had they known the purposes to which their information would be put …

The Moral Hazard Of Contract Drafting, Eric A. Zacks

Florida State University Law Review

This Article identifies and examines the principal-agent problem as it arises in the context of contract preparation. The economic agency relationship, as it may be understood to exist for contract drafting, provides a superior framework for understanding and reforming the inability of the non-drafting party (the principal) to control the drafting party (the agent). As an economic agent, the drafting party faces a moral hazard when preparing the contract because of the differing interests of the parties as well as the information and control asymmetries that exists. For example, the use of standard form contracts in consumer transactions is an …

Why The State Cannot “Abolish Marriage”: A Partial Defense Of Legal Marriage, Gregg P. Strauss

Indiana Law Journal

Does a liberal state have a legitimate interest in defining the terms of intimate relationships? Recently, several scholars have answered this question with a no and concluded that the state should abolish marriage, along with all other categories of intimate status. While politically infeasible, these proposals offer a powerful thought experiment. In this Article, I use this thought experiment to argue that the law cannot avoid relying on intimate-status norms and has legitimate reasons to retain an intimate status like marriage.

The argument has three parts. The primary lesson of the thought experiment is that the state cannot abolish intimate …

The Moral Hazard Of Contract Drafting, Eric A. Zacks

Law Faculty Research Publications

This Article identifies and examines the principal-agent problem as it arises in the context of contract preparation. The economic agency relationship, as it may be understood to exist for contract drafting, provides a superior framework for understanding and reforming the inability of the non-drafting party (the principal) to control the drafting party (the agent). As an economic agent, the drafting party faces a moral hazard when preparing the contract because of the differing interests of the parties as well as the information and control asymmetries that exists. For example, the use of standard form contracts in consumer transactions is an …

Good-Cause Statutes Revisited: An Empirical Assessment, Adi Ayal, Uri Benoliel

Indiana Law Journal

One of the most vital debates in franchise law focuses on whether state or federal law should adopt “good-cause statutes” (GCSs), which require franchisors to show good cause before terminating contractual relations with a franchisee. The traditional law-and-economics analysis suggests that GCSs are inefficient. This inefficiency argument is based upon one central hypothesis: GCSs increase franchisee free riding since they limit the franchisor’s ability to terminate the franchise contract easily. The free-riding hypothesis has been significantly influential in the development of franchise law, as is evident in state and federal statutory regimes. To date, the majority of states and the …