The Contract Clause

Few provisions of the American Constitution have had such a tumultuous history as the contract clause. Prompted by efforts in a number of states to interfere with debtor-creditor relationships after the Revolution, the clause—Article I, Section 10—reads that no state shall “pass any. . . Law impairing the Obligation of Contracts.” Honoring contractual commitments, in the framers' view, would serve the public interest to encourage commerce and economic growth. How the contract clause has fared, as chronicled in this book by James W. Ely, Jr., tells us a great deal about the shifting concerns and assumptions of Americans. Its history provides a window on matters central to American constitutional history, including the protection of economic rights, the growth of judicial review, and the role of federalism. Under the leadership of Chief Justice John Marshall, the Supreme Court construed the provision expansively, and it rapidly became the primary vehicle for federal judicial review of state legislation before the adoption of the Fourteenth Amendment. Indeed, the contract clause was one of the most litigated provisions of the Constitution throughout the nineteenth century, and its history reflects the impact of wars, economic distress, and political currents on reading the Constitution. Ely shows how, over time, the courts carved out several malleable exceptions to the constitutional protection of contracts—most notably the notion of an inalienable police power—thus weakening the contract clause and enhancing state regulatory authority. His study documents the near-fatal blow dealt to the provision by New Deal constitutionalism, when the perceived need for governmental intervention in the economy superseded the economic rights of individuals. Though the 1970s saw a modest revival of interest in the contract clause, the criteria for invoking it remain uncertain. And yet, as state and local governments try to trim the benefits of public sector employees, the provision has once again figured prominently in litigation. In this book, James Ely gives us a timely, analytical lens for understanding these contemporary challenges, as well as the critical historical significance of the contract clause.

This accessible textbook helps students learn essential transactional skills by explaining the meaning and purpose of common contract clauses and exploring some potential pitfalls associated with their use. Nancy Kim utilizes select case summaries and contract clause examples to illustrate doctrinal concepts and how they may affect a transaction. The Fundamentals of Contract Law and Clauses will prove to be an invaluable resource in the classroom, as it will support law students in becoming preventive lawyers by teaching them how to preempt problems, reduce risks and add value to transactions.

Excerpt from The Obligation of Contracts Clause of the United States Constitution It was intended to add chapters dealing with the police power as affecting franchise and immunities, with the ques tion what is an impairment, and the question what is a law, but these, owing to lack of time to complete them. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.

A master toolkit of contract clauses drafted by experts in copyright and contract. Thousands of clauses ready for you to use and adapt. Save time and effort when creating a new licence, option, assignment or agreement for services for a contributor; drafting heads of agreements; amending a contract a third party has sent you; or updating and amending your existing in-house contracts. Organised clearly by subject area, each main clause heading is further broken down across types of use such as film and television, general business and commercial, internet, websites, merchandising, publishing, services, and educational. Clauses are drafted from different angles and some are more innovative. It also includes a legal, commercial and business directory, which can be used to further develop your knowledge of the subject and find new contacts. This new edition has been updated to take account of new technology, legislation and the impact of the internet and social media. New material includes: - A greater emphasis on IP, trademarks and ownership of material, both the acquisition of rights and the retention of rights. - 8 new short articles. - New and innovative clauses which will then be used and adapted across many industry agreements. - Expansion of the web directory. New clauses relating to: - Collaboration and funding agreements for a project. - Purchase and sale of a list of assets. - Website terms and conditions. - Consent, data, privacy and data protection. - Legal compliance and the limitation of risk exposure. - Advertising, marketing, consulting and sponsorship. - Subscription, on demand and other forms of payment and access.

Originalism holds that the U.S. Constitution should be interpreted according to its meaning at the time it was enacted. In their innovative defense of originalism, John McGinnis and Michael Rappaport maintain that the text of the Constitution should be adhered to by the Supreme Court because it was enacted by supermajorities--both its original enactment under Article VII and subsequent Amendments under Article V. A text approved by supermajorities has special value in a democracy because it has unusually wide support and thus tends to maximize the welfare of the greatest number. The authors recognize and respond to many possible objections. Does originalism perpetuate the dead hand of the past? How can originalism be justified, given the exclusion of African Americans and women from the Constitution and many of its subsequent Amendments? What is originalism's place in interpretation, after two hundred years of non-originalist precedent? A fascinating counterfactual they pose is this: had the Supreme Court not interpreted the Constitution so freely, perhaps the nation would have resorted to the Article V amendment process more often and with greater effect. Their book will be an important contribution to the literature on originalism, now the most prominent theory of constitutional interpretation.

General clauses or standards (Generalklauseln, clauses generales) are legal rules which are not precisely formulated, terms and concepts which in fact do not even have a clear core. They are often applied in varying degrees in various legal systems to a rather wide range of contract cases when certain issues arise issues such as abuse of rights, unfairness, good faith, fairness of duty or loyalty or honesty, duty of care, and other such contract terms not lending themselves readily to clear or permanent definition. Here for the first time is a systematic discussion of this kind of rule in the evolving and dynamic context of European contract law. A collection of twelve insightful essays by leading European law authorities, the book is based on a conference organized jointly by the Society of European Contract Law (SECOLA) and l'association Henri Capitant, held in the `grande salle' of the French Supreme Court in Paris in 2005. The subject is approached along three distinct but interconnected avenues: comparative contract law, in which the different models to be found among Member States particularly the Germanic, French, and English common law systems are explored with an eye to differences and common ground;EC contract law, in which the general clause approach has tended to focus on labour law and consumer law, and in which the European Court of Justice more and more assumes the final say; andthe European codification dimension, in which a potential instrument on the European level would compete with national laws and develop closely with them. The authors demonstrate that a focus on general clauses in contract law, embracing as it does a wide range of types of contracts, helps enormously with the necessary integration of legal scholarship and economic approaches, and of legal science and legal practice in the field. Numerous analytic references to relevant cases and EC Directives give a practical impetus to the far-reaching but immediately applicable theory presented in this important book. As European contract law continues to develop rapidly, this seminal contribution is sure to increase in value and usefulness.

The focus of this manual is not what provisions to include in a given contract, but instead how to express those provisions in prose that is free ofthe problems that often afflict contracts.