This informative and accessible book reviews the core concepts of contract law and theory from an Anglo-American perspective. Larry A. DiMatteo deftly analyses the key principles, rules and frameworks which have shaped Anglo-American contract law, as well as highlighting important legislative acts that have changed and modernised its development.

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.

Legal thinkers typically justify contract law on the basis of economics or promissory morality. But Peter Benson takes another approach. He argues that contract is best explained as a transfer of rights governed by a conception of justice. The result is a comprehensive theory of contract law congruent with Rawlsian liberalism.

Hardbound - New, hardbound print book.

This informative and accessible book reviews the core concepts of contract law and theory from an Anglo-American perspective. Larry A. DiMatteo deftly analyses the key principles, rules and frameworks which have shaped Anglo-American contract law, as well as highlighting important legislative acts that have changed and modernised its development. There is a strong commonality across Anglo-American common law systems; however, there have been several critical fissures that have developed between American and English common law over the past fifty years. DiMatteo adopts a multidisciplinary approach, lucidly explaining these differences from both a theoretical and practical perspective, using empirical evidence from case studies to support this research. Chapters focus on a breadth of topics including the duty of good faith, principle of unconscionability, promissory estoppel, statute of frauds, contextual interpretation, and hardship. Introducing key contract law cases, this book will be an essential read for law students and scholars working in the field of commercial law, particularly those with an interest in the theoretical framework and historical context of modern contract law.

Essays addressing a variety of issues in the theory and practice of contract law.

This book offers an accessible introduction to American contract law, useful to both first-year law students and advanced contract scholars.