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Contracts -- Section 1
Winter/Spring 2005
SYLLABUS
Tues. 12:20 - 1:50 PM Prof. Peter Enrich
Wed. 12:20 - 1:50 PM Rm. 79 Cargill
Fri. 8:30 - 10 AM 617-373-5094
p.enrich@neu.edu
Office Hrs.: Tues. 9 - 11 AM
Thurs. 9:30 - 11:30 AM
or by appointment
REQUIRED MATERIALS:
Macaulay, Kidwell & Whitford, Contracts: Law in Action - The Concise Course (2d ed.) [hereinafter "CLA"].
Contract Law: Selected Source Materials (Burton & Eisenberg eds., 2004 edition).
Gilmore, The Death of Contract.
Photocopied Materials, available from Gnomon Copy [hereinafter "PM"].
Call the bookstore (617/373-2286) or Gnomon Copy (617/536-4600) to determine if the course materials are available in advance.
NOTE 1: The assignments listed below are tentative. Specific assignments and, particularly, the pace at which we move through the materials are subject to change. All modifications will be announced in class and via the email list.
NOTE 2: In addition to regular (and thorough) reading and class preparation, each student is also required to: (a) participate actively in class discussion on the dates when his/her "sector" is "on" (lists of sectors and dates will be circulated early in the semester); and (b) participate with one or two partner(s) in the "Bug-Off" simulation, described in the Photocopied Materials (pp. 105-111). I will explain both of these requirements in more detail in class.
NOTE 3: Whenever the assigned readings make reference to sections of the Restatement, of the Uniform Commercial Code (UCC), or of the Convention on the International Sale of Goods (CISG), you are also expected to read and study those referenced sections, all of which are contained in the Source Materials book. By the end of the course, you are expected to have a working familiarity with Article 2 of the UCC.
I. Remedies for Breach of Contract
Class 1 (Jan. 4) -- Course overview
BACKGROUND: C.C. Langdell on the invention of the Casebook (PM pp. 1-4)
Excerpts from M. Horwitz, Transformation of American Law: 1870-1960 (PM pp. 5-11)
CLA pp. 16-24
Class 2 (Jan. 5) -- Introduction to expectation damages
READINGS: Hawkins v. McGee (N.H. 1929) and background materials (PM pp. 13-22)
Class 3 (Jan. 7) -- Expectation and the UCC
READINGS: CLA pp. 25-39 (esp. questions on pp. 35-36 and on p. 39)
Class 4 (Jan. 11) -- Expectation refined
READINGS: Groves v. John Wunder Co. (Minn. 1939) (PM pp.23-31)
CLA pp. 151-165 (largely as a contrast to Groves)
Class 5 (Jan. 12) -- Expectation and mitigation
READINGS: CLA pp. 40-51
Class 6 (Jan. 14) -- Making the victim whole: lost profits
READINGS: CLA pp. 51-60; 79-85
Class 7 (Jan. 18) -- Foreseeability and limitations on damages (and a methodological interlude)
READINGS: CLA pp. 85-98
Excerpts from O.W.Holmes, The Path of the Law (PM pp. 33-37)
Class 8 (Jan. 19) -- Expectation and/or money damages: Specific performance
READINGS: CLA pp. 61-68
Class 9 (Jan. 21) -- Expectation and/or money damages: Contractual damages provisions
READINGS: CLA pp. 69-78
NOTE: There will be no Contracts class on Tuesday, Jan. 25.
Class 10 (Jan. 26) -- Alternative remedies: Reliance
READINGS: Chicago Coliseum Club v. Dempsey (Ill. App. 1932) and background materials (PM pp. 39-52)
CLA pp. 98-100; 108-114
BACKGROUND: CLA pp. 100-108; 165-170
Class 11 (Jan. 28) -- Alternative remedies: Restitution
READINGS: CLA pp. 115-116; 631-635; 638-641; 116-150
Class 12 (Feb. 1) -- Summary: Expectation, Reliance, Restitution
EXERCISE: Problem Set (PM pp. 53-54)
Also, look at Problems 6, 9 and 10 at CLA pp. 171-173
READINGS: Excerpts from Fuller & Perdue, The Reliance Interest in Contract Damages (PM pp. 55-60)
Class 13 (Feb. 2) -- Promises and contracts
READINGS: CLA pp. 175-178; 189-219
Class 14 (Feb. 4) -- Gifts, contracts, and consideration
READINGS: CLA pp. 219-238
Fischer v. Union Trust Co. (Mich. 1904) (PM pp. 61-62)
Batsakis v. Demotsis (Tex. App. 1949) (PM pp. 63-65)
Class 15 (Feb. 8) -- Formalities and reliance
READINGS: CLA pp. 239-258
Class 16 (Feb. 9) -- "A meeting of the minds"
READINGS: CLA pp. 568-575
Hobbs v. Massasoit Whip Co. (Mass. 1893) (PM p. 67)
BACKGROUND: CLA pp. 178-189, 737-743
Class 17 (Feb. 11) -- Indefinite agreements
READINGS: CLA pp. 643-661
Class 18 (Feb. 15) -- Misunderstanding and mistake
READINGS: CLA pp. 580-591
James Baird Co. v. Gimbel Bros. Co. (2d Cir. 1933) (PM pp. 69-72)
Class 19 (Feb. 16) -- Mistakes and firm offers
READINGS: CLA pp. 594-616, 622-631
Class 20 (Feb. 18) -- Family contracts reconsidered
READINGS: Davis v. Jacoby (Cal. 1934) (PM pp. 73-77)
CLA pp. 258-272
NOTE: Read the PM case before the CLA materials!
Class 21 (Feb. 22) -- Family contracts and the courts
READINGS: CLA pp. 272-297
Class 22 (Feb. 23) -- Contract law in the franchise relationship
READINGS: CLA pp. 297-319
Class 23 (Feb. 25) -- Contract law in the employment relationship
READINGS: CLA pp. 327-338
McDonald v. Mobil Coal Producing, Inc. (Wyo. 1991) (PM pp. 79-85)
VACATION (A good time to read The Death of Contract)
Class 24 (Mar. 8) -- The employment relationship, cont'd
READINGS: CLA pp. 338-365
Class 25 (Mar. 9)-- Warranties and disclaimers
READINGS: CLA pp. 494-513
Glyptal Inc. v. Engelhard Corp. (D. Mass. 1992) (PM pp. 87-93)
Class 26 (Mar. 11) -- Contract and commerce reconsidered
READINGS: CLA pp. 319-327; 365-380
The Death of Contract
Another excerpt from M. Horwitz, The Transformation of American Law 1870-1960 (PM pp. 95-98)
The Bug-Off Problem (PM pp. 99-105)
Class 27 (Mar. 15) -- Contracts against public policy
READINGS: CLA pp. 381-400
Class 28 (Mar. 16) -- Incapacity and duress
READINGS: CLA pp. 403-414, 422-428
Class 29 (Mar. 18) -- Undue influence and fraud
READINGS: CLA pp. 428-445, 453-460
Class 30 (Mar. 22) -- Fraud and bad faith
READINGS: CLA pp. 445-453
Sperau v. Ford Motor Co. (Ala. 1995)(PM pp. 107-118)
Class 31 (Mar. 23) -- The form contract problem introduced
READINGS: CLA pp. 461-478
Interview with Zeidenberg and attorney (2004 Wisc. L. Rev. 821) (PM pp. 119-134)
Class 32 (Mar. 25) - The form contract problem concluded
READINGS: CLA pp. 478-494; 575-580
In re: Gateway 2000, Inc. (FTC 1998) (PM pp. 135-143)
Class 33 (Mar. 29) -- Unconscionability introduced
READINGS: CLA pp. 513-534
Class 34 (Mar. 30) -- Unconscionability concluded
READINGS: CLA pp. 534-563
NOTE: I have tentatively scheduled a make-up class, in case of snow days or other interruptions, for Thursday, March 31, 9:00-10:30 AM. Please hold this time until further notice.
Class 35 (Apr. 1) -- Wrap-up and summary
ASSIGNMENT: Read Question 2 from the 1992 Contracts Exam (PM pp. 145-146) and outline an answer to it. We will discuss this question as a review exercise in class.
Class 36 (April 5) -- Flexible agreements
READINGS: CLA pp. 661-692
Class 37 (April 6) -- Battle of the forms
READINGS: CLA pp. 692-704; 713-723
Idaho Power Co. v. Westinghouse Electric Corp. (9th Cir. 1979) (PM pp. 147-151)
Class 38 (April 8) -- The battle of forms, concluded
READINGS: Klocek v. Gateway, Inc. (D.Kans. 2000) (PM pp. 153-156)
CLA pp. 723-737
Class 39 (April 12) -- The Bug-Off Problem
ASSIGNMENT: Complete the Bug-Off Memo
Class 40 (April 13) -- Interpretation and the parol evidence rule
READINGS: CLA pp. 764-787
MCC-Marble Ceramic Center v. Ceramica Nuova D'Agostino (11th Cir. 1998) (PM pp. 157-164)
BACKGROUND: CLA pp. 745-764
NOTE: UCC material discussed in today's readings that was formerly in 1-205 and 2-208 has been relocated in new 1-303 (which you should study as part of today's assignment).
Class 41 (April 15) -- Parol evidence rule, cont'd
READINGS: CLA pp. 787-806
Class 42 (April 19) -- Misrepresentation and parol
READINGS: CLA pp. 806-838
Class 43 (April 20) -- Parol, modification, waiver
READINGS: CLA pp. 838-863
Class 44 (April 22) -- Impossibility and mistake
READINGS: CLA pp. 987-1019
Class 45 (April 26) -- Impossibility, impracticability, frustration
READINGS: CLA pp. 1020-1041
Class 46 (April 27) -- Contract, risk, and change
READINGS: CLA pp. 900-902, 1041-1066
Class 47 (April 29) -- Summary and Review
EXERCISE: Practice exam questions will be assigned