Contract Law

Book excerpt: Contract Law: A Case & Problem-Based Approach is a unique casebook that provides an organizational structure introducing students to each major area of contract law before exploring these areas in greater depth later in the casebook. Specifically, the casebook is broken into three major parts, each of which is designed not only to orient the students to the major subject areas of contract law but also meant to help them appreciate the connections and relationships between and among these various subject areas. Part I, the “30,000-foot view,” familiarizes students with contract law, discusses the sorts of problems with which contract law is concerned, and introduces them to some of the basic rules and theories governing contract law. Part II, the “10,000-foot view,” exposes students to each major substantive area of contract law in more depth by discussing one classic case in each area, along with additional historical, theoretical, and contextual materials to supplement the black-letter doctrine. After finishing Parts I and II, the student will have a basic understanding of each major area of contract law, along with a good understanding of how these parts fit together. Part III is therefore designed to explore each of the major subject areas in greater depth, and is organized along the lines of a traditional contracts casebook, including a healthy mix of classic and modern cases, short problems, and exercises. New to the Second Edition: Additional materials and cases added to explore the contract doctrines of impossibility and impracticability in light of past and current epidemics (in the case of polio) and pandemics (in the case of COVID-19). Additional case added to explore the relationship between Contract Law, Civil Rights, and Constitutional Law. Reorganization of some materials in Chapter 8 (defenses). More focused notes and appendices Professors and student will benefit from: Organization exposes students to main concepts, and gives professors a number of choices about how to teach their course. Helpful doctrinal introductions to each new major substantive section. Historical, theoretical, and comparative materials are presented to help students understand and think critically about the black-letter rules. “Thinking tools” feature that helps the student think critically about the law, along with theoretical, historical, doctrinal, contextual, and practice-oriented notes enrich the students’ black-letter experience. Enjoyable, contextual materials that are included after a number of classic cases help to bring to light fascinating background information.