UHLC Nota Bene

The ABA has just published Contract Law: Analyzing and Drafting , which is now available in the library (see the new titles shelf, which is located across from the reference desk, next to the public computer terminals) ( KF801.C6135 2015 ). This book, edited by Karen F. Botterud, contains nineteen chapters (each authored by different attorneys who are experts in contract law) focusing on the concepts of contract law as well as contract drafting. The topics covered include, among others, essentials of contract formation, problems in contract formation, contract formation under UCC Article 2, statutes of fraud, parole evidence rule, contract performance, breach of contract and nonperformance, warranties, disclaimers, and limitations, and equitable remedies. There is even a chapter that covers drafting specific contract clauses in employment agreements. This book is thoroughly researched as indicated from the numerous excerpts from the Uniform Commercial Code , Corbin on Contracts ( K...

Contract law is boring and hard--I blame Prof. Kingsfield for this—and gets a bad rap as far as the first year curriculum goes. Torts and Criminal law have great fact patterns,everyone wants to own real estate someday so there is an incentive to learn Property law, and Constitutional law has become politics by another name so everyone has an opinion. Only Civil Procedure can match Contracts for dullness (I will redeem Civ. Pro. in a different post). I am telling you now that Contract law can be interesting. You are just reading the wrong books.  Foundation Press has published a series of books with the title [Insert Legal Subject] Stories in which law professors give the reader a little more context on famous and influential cases.   In the volume Contract Stories ( KF801.A7 C66 2007 ), famous cases like Hadley v. Baxendale and Hamer v. Sidway are given “the rest of the story” treatment. The text of the actual opinion isn’t included, but a lot of background informa...