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Framing Contract Law: An Economic Perspective

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ISBN-10:: 0674063929
ISBN-13:: 9780674063921
Pub. Date:: 03/05/2012
Publisher:: Harvard University Press

ISBN-10:: 0674063929
ISBN-13:: 9780674063921
Pub. Date:: 03/05/2012
Publisher:: Harvard University Press

Framing Contract Law: An Economic Perspective

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Overview

The central theme of this book is that an economic framework—incorporating such concepts as information asymmetry, moral hazard, and adaptation to changed circumstances—is appropriate for contract interpretation, analyzing contract disputes, and developing contract doctrine. The value of the approach is demonstrated through the close analysis of major contract cases. In many of the cases, had the court (and the litigators) understood the economic context, the analysis and results would have been very different. Topics and some representative cases include consideration (Wood v. Lucy, Lady Duff Gordon), interpretation (Bloor v. Falstaff and Columbia Nitrogen v. Royster), remedies (Campbell v. Wentz, Tongish v. Thomas, and Parker v. Twentieth Century Fox), and excuse (Alcoa v. Essex).

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780674063921
Publisher:	Harvard University Press
Publication date:	03/05/2012
Edition description:	Reprint
Pages:	424
Product dimensions:	6.10(w) x 9.20(h) x 1.20(d)

About the Author

Victor Goldberg is Jerome L. Greene Professor of Transactional Law at Columbia Law School.

Introduction     1
Some Concepts
The Net Profits Puzzle     13
Consideration
Reading Wood v. Lucy, Lady Duff-Gordon with Help from the Kewpie Dolls     43
Mutuality and the Jobber's Requirements: Middleman to the World?     74
Satisfaction Clauses: Consideration without Good Faith     91
Interpretation
Discretion in Long-Term Open Quantity Contracts: Reining In Good Faith     101
In Search of Best Efforts: Reinterpreting Bloor v. Falstaff     142
Columbia Nitrogen v. Royster: Do as They Say, Not as They Do     162
The "Battle of the Forms": Fairness, Efficiency, and the Best-Shot Rule     189
Remedies
Campbell v. Wentz: The Case of the Walking Carrots     207
Expectation Damages and Property in the Price     219
The Middleman's Damages: Lost Profits or the Contract-Market Differential     225
An Economic Analysis of the Lost-Volume Retail Seller     233
Consequential Damages     243
A Reexamination of Glanzer v. Shepard: Surveyors on the Tort-Contract Boundary     245
Option to Terminate
Bloomer Girl Revisited, or How to Frame an Unmade Picture     279
Bloomer Girl: A Postscript     310
Wasserman v. Township of Middletown: The Penalty Clause That Wasn't     313
Impossibility, Related Doctrines, and Price Adjustment
Price Adjustment in Long-Term Contracts     327
Impossibility and Related Excuses     333
Alcoa v. Essex: Anatomy of a Bungled Deal     348
Mineral Park v. Howard: The Irrelevance of Impracticability     370
Conclusion     376
Notes     385
References     393
Table of Cases     401
Index     407

What People are Saying About This

Douglas Baird

Anyone remotely sympathetic to law and economics who teaches contracts will want to see if Goldberg has something to say about a particular case before teaching it. Those who write in this field will want to have this book close at hand. In short, this is an important work that will change the way people think about contract law.

— Douglas Baird, University of Chicago Law School

Goldberg's style is clear and entertaining. One of the best things about the book is that he completely avoids the kind of economic jargon that drives away readers who are unfamiliar with economic language. His explanations are clear and cogent, and are written at a level that law students and intelligent lay people can understand without difficulty. This is no small accomplishment.

Franklin G. Snyder

Richard Craswell

This book ought to be read by everyone who teaches contract law in an American law school. Even more important, it ought to be read by every lawyer who writes or negotiates contracts.
— Richard Craswell, Stanford University School of Law

From the B&N Reads Blog

Page 1 of

Editorial Reviews

Goldberg's style is clear and entertaining. One of the best things about the book is that he completely avoids the kind of economic jargon that drives away readers who are unfamiliar with economic language. His explanations are clear and cogent, and are written at a level that law students and intelligent lay people can understand without difficulty. This is no small accomplishment.

Franklin G. Snyder

Anyone remotely sympathetic to law and economics who teaches contracts will want to see if Goldberg has something to say about a particular case before teaching it. Those who write in this field will want to have this book close at hand. In short, this is an important work that will change the way people think about contract law.

Douglas Baird

Victor Goldberg's Framing Contract Law is one of the most intellectually challenging books I have ever read. Reading the book would benefit law school professors who teach contract law or Article 2 of the Uniform Commercial Code, litigators who deal with contract issues arising under Article 2, and acquisition professionals working in the private sector...An intricate book to read and digest but one that is well worth the effort.

Federal Lawyer - Carol A. Sigmond

This stimulating book should be placed on the top of the reading stack for everyone who studies contract law—along with those who structure or litigate deals for a living. Goldberg is an adept legal archeologist who has done a wonderful job of unearthing old court documents, obscure business relationships, and forgotten family histories. He is a master storyteller—many of the chapters flow more like a Booker Prize novel than dry legal commentary.

University of Chicago Law Review - George S. Geis

This book ought to be read by everyone who teaches contract law in an American law school. Even more important, it ought to be read by every lawyer who writes or negotiates contracts.

Richard Craswell

[Goldberg's] prose is clear, and despite his lack of a law degree, he has a good handle on contract law. While most economic analyses of contract law tend to agree that from an economic perspective the legal system has got contract law basically right, this book analyzes a number of contract cases and finds them either wrong or, if right, wrongly reasoned. The skewering of some of these cases is, in his opinion, like shooting fish in a barrel...This is the most stimulating and interesting book on contract law that I have come across in many years. It is full of surprises. Everyone who works with contracts and every law professor who teaches contracts should take a look at it.

ContractsProf Blog - Joseph M. Perillo

Victor Goldberg's Framing Contract Law is one of the most intellectually challenging books I have ever read. Reading the book would benefit law school professors who teach contract law or Article 2 of the Uniform Commercial Code, litigators who deal with contract issues arising under Article 2, and acquisition professionals working in the private sector...An intricate book to read and digest but one that is well worth the effort.
— Carol A. Sigmond

Federal Lawyer

This stimulating book should be placed on the top of the reading stack for everyone who studies contract law—along with those who structure or litigate deals for a living. Goldberg is an adept legal archeologist who has done a wonderful job of unearthing old court documents, obscure business relationships, and forgotten family histories. He is a master storyteller—many of the chapters flow more like a Booker Prize novel than dry legal commentary.
— George S. Geis

University of Chicago Law Review

[Goldberg's] prose is clear, and despite his lack of a law degree, he has a good handle on contract law. While most economic analyses of contract law tend to agree that from an economic perspective the legal system has got contract law basically right, this book analyzes a number of contract cases and finds them either wrong or, if right, wrongly reasoned. The skewering of some of these cases is, in his opinion, like shooting fish in a barrel...This is the most stimulating and interesting book on contract law that I have come across in many years. It is full of surprises. Everyone who works with contracts and every law professor who teaches contracts should take a look at it.
— Joseph M. Perillo

ContractsProf Blog

This is the most stimulating and interesting book on contract law that I have come across in many years. It is full of surprises. Everyone who works with contracts and every law professor who teaches contracts should take a look at it.

ContractsProf Blog Joseph M. Perillo

This stimulating book should be placed on the top of the reading stack for everyone who studies contract law--along with those who structure or litigate deals for a living. Goldberg is an adept legal archeologist who has done a wonderful job of unearthing old court documents, obscure business relationship, and forgotten family histories. He is a master storyteller--many of the chapters flow more like a Booker Prize novel than dry legal commentary.

The University of Chicago Law Review George S. Geis

Framing Contract Law: An Economic Perspective

Framing Contract Law: An Economic Perspective

Paperback

Temporarily Out of Stock Online

Overview

Product Details

About the Author

Table of Contents

What People are Saying About This

Customer Reviews

Temporarily Out of Stock Online

Overview

Product Details

About the Author

Table of Contents

What People are Saying About This

Related Subjects

Customer Reviews