Contracts

This course prepares you to think about the creation, interpretation, and enforcement of contracts. We ask whether the law should enforce all promises and, if not, how judges and lawyers should distinguish enforceable and unenforceable promises. Even if we know that enforceable promises were made, it may be difficult to determine exactly what was promised. How should we respond to allegations that a written agreement is ambiguous, incomplete, or at variance with the expectations of at least one of the parties? Then there is the question of enforcement: What remedies should be available to a plaintiff when the defendant has broken a legally enforceable promise? Should there be a remedy for every broken promise, or should some breaches be excused? If a remedy is appropriate, what should it look like? Should the plaintiff receive money (how much?), or should the defendant be ordered to deliver precisely what was promised? As we think about these issues, you will develop skill in advocacy. You will often serve as "counsel" for one of the parties in the assigned readings. I will ask you to present the best legal arguments for structuring a transaction in a particular way or for concluding that one of the parties breached the contract. I will vary the facts, requiring you to adjust your legal argument and find the best fit between the facts and legal rules. This process, I hope, will help you develop skill in thinking on your feet, applying law to fact, and public speaking.