Foundations of Contract Law


Book Description

This text brings together important legal studies and a wealth of materials by economists, historians, political scientists, and sociologists to illuminate the intellectual currents and social and political forces behind contemporary practices and procedures. Designed to complement any standard casebook, it will be an invaluable resource both for the required contracts course and for any upper-level contract theory course. The Foundations of Law Series offers a collection of comprehensive readings that provide an interdisciplinary perspective on a substantive legal field. Edited by scholars who have made important contributions, the readings are designed to provide an accessible introduction to the leading scholarship in a field. Accompanying notes and questions permit students to engage fully in the literature on their own, as well as to aid their understanding of material covered in classes.




Foundational Principles of Contract Law


Book Description

Foundational Principles of Contract Law not only sets out the principles and rules of contract law, it places more emphasis on what the principles and rules of contract law should be, based on policy, morality, and experience. A major premise of the book is that the best way to grasp contract law is to understand it from a critical perspective as an organic, dynamic subject. When contract law is approached in this way it is much easier to grasp and learn than when it is presented simply as a static collection of principles and rules. Professor Eisenberg covers almost all areas of contract law, including the enforceability of promises, remedies for breach of contract, problems of assent, form contracts, the effect of mistake and changed circumstances, interpretation, and problems of performance. Although the emphasis of the book is on the principles and rules of contract law, it also covers important theories in contract law, such as the theory of efficient breach, the theory of overreliance, the normative theory of contracts, formalism, and theories of contract interpretation.




Foundations of American Contract Law


Book Description

"This book reconsiders the foundations of contract law by clarifying the meaning of fairness and choice. It shows how these ideas were muddled with rise of voluntarism and conceptualism in the nineteenth century. Contract was defined in term of the will of the parties, even though often the parties are bound by terms to which they did not consciously assent and sometimes they are not bound by harsh terms to which they assented. Rules were formulated without regard to the purposes that contract law serves. Current theory and practice recognize these problems but cannot resolve them because they lack a clear idea of fairness in exchange. They approach them by manipulating the idea of choice, or by creating exceptions to previously accepted rules, or by introducing vaguely conceived policy considerations. Economic approaches disregard fairness entirely. This book revives a pre-nineteenth century idea of fairness in exchange. This idea is consistent with modern economic thought and can reconcile concerns about fairness, party autonomy, and the purposes that a contact serves for society and the parties themselves. This book presents an account of contract law that is principled, comprehensive, systematic, and operational in the sense that it explains or criticizes what courts actually do. It seeks to explain the enforceability of contracts, unconscionability, the effect of mistake, and changed circumstances, and problems of assent, interpretation, good faith, and remedies"--




Foundations of American Contract Law


Book Description

"This book reconsiders the foundations of contract law by clarifying the meaning of fairness and choice. It shows how these ideas were muddled with rise of voluntarism and conceptualism in the nineteenth century. Contract was defined in term of the will of the parties, even though often the parties are bound by terms to which they did not consciously assent and sometimes they are not bound by harsh terms to which they assented. Rules were formulated without regard to the purposes that contract law serves. Current theory and practice recognize these problems but cannot resolve them because they lack a clear idea of fairness in exchange. They approach them by manipulating the idea of choice, or by creating exceptions to previously accepted rules, or by introducing vaguely conceived policy considerations. Economic approaches disregard fairness entirely. This book revives a pre-nineteenth century idea of fairness in exchange. This idea is consistent with modern economic thought and can reconcile concerns about fairness, party autonomy, and the purposes that a contact serves for society and the parties themselves. This book presents an account of contract law that is principled, comprehensive, systematic, and operational in the sense that it explains or criticizes what courts actually do. It seeks to explain the enforceability of contracts, unconscionability, the effect of mistake, and changed circumstances, and problems of assent, interpretation, good faith, and remedies"--




Business Law I Essentials


Book Description

A less-expensive grayscale paperback version is available. Search for ISBN 9781680923018. Business Law I Essentials is a brief introductory textbook designed to meet the scope and sequence requirements of courses on Business Law or the Legal Environment of Business. The concepts are presented in a streamlined manner, and cover the key concepts necessary to establish a strong foundation in the subject. The textbook follows a traditional approach to the study of business law. Each chapter contains learning objectives, explanatory narrative and concepts, references for further reading, and end-of-chapter questions. Business Law I Essentials may need to be supplemented with additional content, cases, or related materials, and is offered as a foundational resource that focuses on the baseline concepts, issues, and approaches.




Concepts and Case Analysis in the Law of Contracts


Book Description

Background Elements: Contract Curve and Expectation Damages; Consideration and the Bargained-for Exchange; Contract Formation; Unfairness and Unconscionability; Contract Interpretation; Performance and Breach; Mistake and Impossibility; Remedies; Third-Party Beneficiaries.




Philosophical Foundations of Contract Law


Book Description

In recent years there has been a revival of interest in the philosophical study of contract law. In 1981 Charles Fried claimed that contract law is based on the philosophy of promise and this has generated what is today known as 'the contract and promise debate'. Cutting to the heart of contemporary discussions, this volume brings together leading philosophers, legal theorists, and contract lawyers to debate the philosophical foundations of this area of law. Divided into two parts, the first explores general themes in the contract theory literature, including the philosophy of promising, the nature of contractual obligation, economic accounts of contract law, and the relationship between contract law and moral values such as personal autonomy and distributive justice. The second part uses these philosophical ideas to make progress in doctrinal debates, relating for example to contract interpretation, unfair terms, good faith, vitiating factors, and remedies. Together, the essays provide a picture of the current state of research in this revitalized area of law, and pave the way for future study and debate.







Fundamentals of American Law


Book Description

The American legal system today is the most significant in the world, yet until the publication of Fundamentals of American Law, there has been no book that provides both the basic rules on the theoretical understanding necessary to comprehend. This book is not simply the work of a singleauthor, but a collection of especially written essays, each by an expert in the field, all of whom are on the faculty of New York University School of Law, which is recognized as one of the elite law schools in America and which offers this book as an element of its unique Global Law SchoolProgramme.The book is written specifically for foreign lawyers and law students who have a need to deal with American Law generally, but are not seeking to become specialists in any one area. For them, it is vital to understand the basic principles of a wide range of American legal fields so they can act asinformed intermediaries between their public or private clients and their American counterparts. The book not only provides the reader with a solid foundation in American law, but will also serve as a basic reference book for the fundamentals, even as some of the details change over the years.Although initially conceived to fill a void for foreign lawyers, the book is also ideally suited for others who have a significant need to understand the basic principles of American Law and to interact with American lawyers. For this reason it will be an ideal course text for students of business,accountancy, political science, or public administration, where the enquiring student will constantly find intersections with the law.The book is more than a compendium of legal principles. Each chapter explains not only what the law is, but why it is that way. It sets forth the policy considerations in institutional factors that produce a particular law so the reader can make an independent judgement about its wisdom and perhapsits adaptibility to other cultures.




Studies in Contract Law


Book Description