Beyond Unconscionability: the Case for Using "Knowing Assent" As the Basis for Analyzing Unbargained-For Terms in Standard Form Contracts
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Freight Payment Terms and "Risk of Loss"
Freight Payment Terms and "Risk of Loss" By: George Carl Pezold We often get questions about which party (the shipper or the consignee) is entitled to file a claim for freight loss or damage. The Uniform Straight Bill of Lading (and most bills of lading used by shippers and carriers) has a provision for identifying the party to whom the carrier should send its freight bills. The "official" version of the bill of lading as published in the National Motor Freight Classification has a box that states: "Freight charges are PREPAID unless marked collect" and a place to "CHECK BOX IF COLLECT". Many bills of lading also have a "Bill To" box if the freight bills are to be sent to someone other than the shipper or the consignee, such as a freight payment agent. It is a common misconception that the identification of the party to pay the freight charges, i.e., whether the freight charges are "prepaid" or "collect", also determines which party should file a claim for loss or damage. The first step in any claim case is to ascertain who has risk of loss in transit. This concept is significant because it determines who has the legal right or obligation to file the claim, and who is the proper “party in interest” in the event of litigation. Under common law and the old Uniform Sales Act, which has been replaced by the Uniform Commercial Code, risk of loss generally followed “title” to the goods. However, under the Uniform Commercial Code, risk of loss is related to “delivery” of the goods. -
The Economic Implications of the Doctrine of Impossibility, 26 Hastings L.J
Hastings Law Journal Volume 26 | Issue 5 Article 5 1-1975 The conomicE Implications of the Doctrine of Impossibility Stephen S. Ashley Follow this and additional works at: https://repository.uchastings.edu/hastings_law_journal Part of the Law Commons Recommended Citation Stephen S. Ashley, The Economic Implications of the Doctrine of Impossibility, 26 Hastings L.J. 1251 (1975). Available at: https://repository.uchastings.edu/hastings_law_journal/vol26/iss5/5 This Note is brought to you for free and open access by the Law Journals at UC Hastings Scholarship Repository. It has been accepted for inclusion in Hastings Law Journal by an authorized editor of UC Hastings Scholarship Repository. THE ECONOMIC IMPLICATIONS OF THE DOCTRINE OF IMPOSSIBILITY If one accepts as a norm Cardozo's maxim that "[t]he final cause of law is the welfare of society,"' economic theory may provide a useful basis for evaluating the social consequences of legal doctrines. This note will demonstrate the usefulness of applying an economic analysis to the doctrine of impossibility of contract performance, the legal prin- ciple applied to contract disputes which arise when an unforeseen catas- trophe prevents performance of a contract whose terms do not allocate the risk of that catastrophe. The traditional legal analysis, by limiting its view to the allocation of losses which have already occurred and by ignoring the problem of assigning the risk of future losses, has pro- duced inconsistent and arbitrary risk assignments, to society's detri- ment. The proposals of other legal writers would have the same effect. This note will demonstrate through an economic analysis that the law should allocate the risk of disruption unequivocally to the party better able to insure against the risk, subject to reassignment by the parties in their contract. -
Parol Evidence Rules and the Mechanics of Choice
Georgetown University Law Center Scholarship @ GEORGETOWN LAW 2019 Parol Evidence Rules and the Mechanics of Choice Gregory Klass Georgetown University Law Center, [email protected] This paper can be downloaded free of charge from: https://scholarship.law.georgetown.edu/facpub/2048 https://ssrn.com/abstract=3150616 Gregory Klass, Parol Evidence Rules and the Mechanics of Choice, 20 Theoretical Inq. L. 457 (2019). This open-access article is brought to you by the Georgetown Law Library. Posted with permission of the author. Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarship.law.georgetown.edu/facpub Part of the Contracts Commons, and the Evidence Commons 457 Parol Evidence Rules and the Mechanics of Choice Gregory Klass* Scholars have to date paid relatively little attention to the rules for deciding when a writing is integrated. These integration rules, however, are as dark and full of subtle difficulties as are other parts of parol evidence rules. As a way of thinking about Hanoch Dagan and Michael Heller’s The Choice Theory of Contracts, this Article suggests we would do better with tailored integration rules for two transaction types. In negotiated contracts between firms, courts should apply a hard express integration rule, requiring firms to say when they intend a writing to be integrated. In consumer contracts, standard terms should automatically be integrated against consumer- side communications, and never integrated against a business’s communications. The argument for each rule rests on the ways parties make and express contractual choices in these types of transactions. Whereas Dagan and Heller emphasize the different values at stake in different spheres of contracting, differences among parties’ capacities for choice — or the “mechanics of choice” — are at least as important. -
Unconscionability in Contracts Between Merchants
SMU Law Review Volume 40 Issue 4 Article 4 1986 Unconscionability in Contracts between Merchants Jane P. Mallor Follow this and additional works at: https://scholar.smu.edu/smulr Recommended Citation Jane P. Mallor, Unconscionability in Contracts between Merchants, 40 SW L.J. 1065 (1986) https://scholar.smu.edu/smulr/vol40/iss4/4 This Article is brought to you for free and open access by the Law Journals at SMU Scholar. It has been accepted for inclusion in SMU Law Review by an authorized administrator of SMU Scholar. For more information, please visit http://digitalrepository.smu.edu. UNCONSCIONABILITY IN CONTRACTS BETWEEN MERCHANTS by Jane P. Mallor* HE doctrine of unconscionabilityl has played a role in Anglo-Ameri- can contract law since at least the eighteenth century. 2 In the past twenty years, however, the doctrine has enjoyed an ascendancy that could scarcely have been dreamed of by the chancellors in equity who first employed the doctrine. 3 Its codification in section 2-302 of the Uniform Commercial Code of almost all states,4 and its adoption and application by courts in a wide variety of cases outside the scope of the Uniform Commer- cial Code,5 have brought unconscionability into the forefront of modem American contract law. * B.A., J.D., Indiana University. Associate Professor of Business Law, Indiana Univer- sity School of Business. 1. "Unconscionability is the rubric under which the judiciary may refuse to enforce un- fair or oppressive contracts in the absence of fraud or illegality." Stanley A. Klopp, Inc. v. John Deere Co., 510 F. Supp. -
Offer and Acceptance
ROLL FOLD... DOUBLE CHECK ADJUSTMENTS FOR ROLL FOLD... 1/16" creep. MAKE ADJUSTMENTS FOR DOT GAIN. diligence period expires, the earnest money should “contingencies” must be performed by the dates are a number of exceptions to this requirement. timeshare in North Carolina from a seller classified by these transactions may be riskier than a conventional be refunded to you. If you terminate after the due specified in the contract or very soon thereafter, Consequently, for application of this law to a particular law as a developer of a timeshare project, you have five purchase, you should consult your attorney before into diligence period, the earnest money is usually depending upon whether the contract states that situation, you should consult your attorney. days to cancel your purchase contract which you can do entering such agreements. forfeited to the seller unless the seller is unable “time is of the essence.” If time is of the essence, and • Lead Paint Disclosure. If you are by mail. If you are a resident of another state, you may • Lease-Purchase. In lease-purchase Questions and Answers on: or unwilling to satisfy the terms of the contract. If you or the seller fail to perform by the stated deadline, purchasing a residential building constructed before also have additional rescission rights under the laws of transactions, you occupy property as a tenant but agree there is any dispute between you and the seller the other party may terminate the contract. If the 1978, federal law requires sellers and their brokers to your home state. The developer must hold all funds to purchase it at a future date. -
In Dispute 30:2 Contract Formation
CHAPTER 30 CONTRACTS Introductory Note A. CONTRACT FORMATION 30:1 Contract Formation ― In Dispute 30:2 Contract Formation ― Need Not Be in Writing 30:3 Contract Formation ― Offer 30:4 Contract Formation ― Revocation of Offer 30:5 Contract Formation ― Counteroffer 30:6 Contract Formation ― Acceptance 30:7 Contract Formation ― Consideration 30:8 Contract Formation ― Modification 30:9 Contract Formation ― Third-Party Beneficiary B. CONTRACT PERFORMANCE 30:10 Contract Performance — Breach of Contract — Elements of Liability 30:11 Contract Performance — Breach of Contract Defined 30:12 Contract Performance — Substantial Performance 30:13 Contract Performance — Anticipatory Breach 30:14 Contract Performance — Time of Performance 30:15 Contract Performance — Conditions Precedent 30:16 Contract Performance — Implied Duty of Good Faith and Fair Dealing — Non-Insurance Contract 30:17 Contract Performance — Assignment C. DEFENSES Introductory Note 30:18 Defense — Fraud in the Inducement 30:19 Defense — Undue Influence 30:20 Defense — Duress 30:21 Defense — Minority 30:22 Defense — Mental Incapacity 30:23 Defense — Impossibility of Performance 30:24 Defense — Inducing a Breach by Words or Conduct 30:25 Defense — Waiver 30:26 Defense — Statute of Limitations 30:27 Defense — Cancellation by Agreement 30:28 Defense — Accord and Satisfaction (Later Contract) 30:29 Defense — Novation D. CONTRACT INTERPRETATION Introductory Note 30:30 Contract Interpretation — Disputed Term 30:31 Contract Interpretation — Parties’ Intent 30:32 Contract Interpretation — -
Unconscionability Wars †
Copyright 2012 by Northwestern University School of Law Printed in U.S.A. Northwestern University Law Review Vol. 106, No. 1 UNCONSCIONABILITY WARS † David Horton ABSTRACT —For decades, courts have invoked the contract defense of unconscionability to invalidate one-sided arbitration clauses. Recently, however, a growing cadre of judges, scholars, and litigants has asserted that this practice is incompatible with the Federal Arbitration Act (FAA). Some claim that the FAA only permits arbitrators—not courts—to find arbitration clauses to be unconscionable. Others, such as Justice Thomas—who provided the decisive vote in the Court’s recent decision in AT&T Mobility LLC v. Concepcion —contend that the statute’s plain language immunizes arbitration clauses from unconscionability in all circumstances. This Essay responds to these arguments. In particular, it challenges the cornerstone of both anti-unconscionability theories: that the FAA’s text only allows courts to strike down arbitration clauses for reasons that relate to the “making” of the agreement to arbitrate. AUTHOR —Acting Professor of Law, University of California, Davis, School of Law (effective July 2012); Associate Professor of Law, Loyola Law School, Los Angeles (through July 2012). Thank you to Hiro Aragaki and Stephen J. Ware for helpful comments. † This Essay was originally published in the orthwestern University Law Review Colloquy on August 22, 2011, 106 NW. U. L. REV . COLLOQUY 13 (2011), http://www.law.northwestern.edu/ lawreview/colloquy/2011/17/LRColl2011n17Horton.pdf. 387 N O R T H W E S T E R N U N I V E R S I T Y L A W R E V I E W INTRODUCTION ............................................................................................................ -
Contractual Risk Transfer in Construction Contracts
CONTRACTUAL RISK TRANSFER IN CONSTRUCTION CONTRACTS Tarron L. Gartner Katie McClelland Cooper & Scully, P.C. 900 Jackson Street, Suite 100 Dallas, TX 75202 214/712-9500 214/712-9540 (Fax) © 2008 TABLE OF CONTENTS PAGE I. CONTRACTUAL RISK TRANSFER IN CONSTRUCTION CONTRACTS............................... 1 A. “Insured Contract” – The Essence of Contractual Liability Coverage ............................................ 1 1. Contractual Liability Exclusion and Exception .................................................................. 1 B. Mechanics of Determining Contractual Liability Coverage ............................................................ 2 1. Determine the Validity of the Indemnity Agreement ......................................................... 2 2. Determine Whether Covered Injuries are Alleged Against Indemnitee ............................. 3 3. Determine Whether Indemnity Agreement was Executed Prior to Covered Injury ........... 3 4. Determine Whether to Assume Defense of Indemnitee...................................................... 3 C. Sole Negligence Variation on “Insured Contract”........................................................................... 4 D. Insured Contract Exception to Employer’s Liability Exclusion ...................................................... 4 II. VALIDITY OF INDEMNITY AGREEMENT UNDER FAIR NOTICE RULES ......................... 5 A. Express Negligence Test.................................................................................................................. 5 1. -
Standard Form Contract For
Sheet No. 49.4-A Effective July 11, 2018 APPENDIX IV STANDARD FORM CONTRACT FOR HAWAI‘I COMMUNITY BASED RENEWABLE ENERGY – PHASE ONE THIS CONTRACT (“Contract”) is entered into as of __________, 20__ (the “Effective Date”), by [Hawaiian Electric Company, Inc., Maui Electric Company, Ltd., Hawai‘i Electric Light Company, Inc.], a Hawai‘i corporation (hereafter called "Company") and ____________________ (hereafter called “Subscriber Organization”). Together, the Company and Subscriber Organization are the “Parties” and may singularly each be referred to as a “Party.” R E C I T A L S: Company is an operating electric public utility on the Island of [Hawai‘i, Lanai, Maui, Oahu], subject to the Hawai‘i Public Utilities Law (Hawai‘i Revised Statutes, Chapter 269) and the rules and regulations of the Hawai‘i Public Utilities Commission (hereinafter called the "PUC" or the “Commission”); and The Company System is operated as an independent power grid and must both maximize system reliability for its customers by ensuring that sufficient generation is available that meets the Company’s requirements for voltage stability, frequency stability, and reliability standards; and Subscriber Organization desires to operate a renewable energy facility that is classified as an eligible resource under Hawai‘i's Renewable Portfolio Standards Statute (codified as Hawai‘i Revised Statutes (HRS) 269-91 through 269-95) and that qualifies for the Community-Based Renewable Energy (“CBRE”) Program (the “CBRE Program”); and The PV System to be developed by the Subscriber Organization will be an established or planned solar photovoltaic electric generating facility with a nameplate capacity of ______ kilowatts of alternating current (AC), on property located at _______________________ (hereinafter called the "CBRE Project"). -
Writing Sample
Writing Sample Office of Career Services What is the purpose of a writing sample? The purpose of a writing sample is to illustrate how you organize and express your thoughts in writing. Legal employers use the writing sample to determine whether your skills and abilities meet their standards. Your writing sample should demonstrate your legal reasoning and analytical skills as well as your ability to communicate succinctly. When should I submit a writing sample? You should only submit a writing sample when an employer ProTip! specifically requests it. It is recommended to take copies of your writing sample to an You should not send a writing sample when sending networking letters. interview and provide a copy upon request. What is the proper format? Page length: 5 to 10 pages, double-spaced. If an employer sets a minimum or maximum page limit, you should adhere to those specifications. The writing sample, including the cover page, should fit into the employer’s given page limit. You should also include a header or footer with your name and page number on every page. Note: It is important to note that there are some exceptions when applying for judicial clerkships. See your CSO for more information. How do I condense my writing sample? If your sample exceeds the page requirements, you can select an excerpt from the sample as long as you provide an explanation in the cover page of the context of the excerpt, including facts and issues that will provide the reader with a complete understanding of the work product. You should also ensure that the selected excerpt demonstrates your analytical and legal reasoning skills and ability to communicate clearly and concisely. -
Indemnity: "Pass-Through" Provisions
Indemnity: "Pass-Through" Provisions January 2005 by: James Donohue, Esq. and Edward M. Koch, Esq. Overlooking the subtle nuances of indemnity provisions in a proposed contract is a common—and often costly—mistake. Parties eager to win a bid often look past contract language which can require them to pay not only for their own mistakes, but for those of another party, too. (For more background on indemnity, see, “Who Pays For Your Mistakes”, Executive Newsletter, Fall 2004, located in the Publications Section of www.whiteandwilliams.com). For matters being decided under Pennsylvania law, a recent Supreme Court decision illuminates a previously dim region of the indemnity landscape. In Bernotas v. Super Fresh Food Markets, Inc., the Court substantially abrogates the use of so-called “pass-through,” “conduit,” or “flow-through” indemnification provisions that are common in construction subcontracts. Under the Supreme Court’s decision, “passthrough” indemnification provisions will only be valid if the indemnification obligation is stated in clear and unequivocal terms. Form book or cut-and-paste boilerplate won’t do. INDEMNIFICATION, GENERALLY Indemnification refers to one party’s obligation to pay for the liability of another for certain specified events. The source of this obligation can be either through the common law or, as addressed by the Supreme Court in Bernotas, through contract. Historically, Pennsylvania courts have closely scrutinized contractual indemnification provisions. For example, one could seek indemnity from another for one’s own negligence, but general indemnity language was insufficient to affect this end. Instead, a clear and unequivocal statement of indemnification for one’s own negligence had to be clearly spelled-out in the contract provision in order for it to be effective under Pennsylvania law. -
What Is Invitation to Treat?
Cyber Law: © Dr. Qais Faryadi (F.S.T) www.dr-qais.com WHAT IS INVITATION TO TREAT? Invitation to treat or simply speaking information to bargain means a person inviting others to make an offer in order to create a binding contract. An example of invitation to treat is found in window shop displays and product advertisement. Invitation to treat comes from the Latin phrase invitatio ad offerendum and it means inviting an offer. In another words it is a special expression showing a person’s willingness to negotiate. When a shopkeeper makes an invitation to treat may not accept any offer on his goods as soon as it is accepted by the person who makes an offer. There is a difference between an offer and invitation to treat. When A accepts an offer from B a contract is complete. When B accepts an advertisement in a shop window, he is actually making an offer. It is up to the advertiser to accept or to reject the offer. The issue of invitation to treat was discussed in the case of Fisher v Bell 1 by the English Court of Appeal: “It is perfectly clear that according to the ordinary law of contract the display of an article with a price on it in a shop window is merely an invitation to treat. It is in no sense an offer for sale the acceptance of which constitutes a contract.” As such when a person displays a good on his shop or advertises something in his shop window merely bargaining an offer on it.