Hardback
Rethinking the Law of Contract Damages
In this series of chapters on contract damages issues, Victor P. Goldberg provides a framework for analyzing the problems that arise when determining damages, and applies it to case law in both the USA and the UK.
More Information
Critical Acclaim
Contents
More Information
In this series of chapters on contract damages issues, Victor P. Goldberg provides a framework for analyzing the problems that arise when determining damages, and applies it to case law in both the USA and the UK.
In analyzing direct damages, the author treats the problem as pricing the option to terminate. This sheds light on the question of the date at which damages should be measured and the role of post-breach information in damage assessment. It shows how the treatment of the so-called lost volume seller in both countries results in the court constructing an absurd contract, setting an option price with perverse characteristics. Goldberg then considers two questions regarding consequential damages—the enforceability of consequential damages exclusion clauses and whether the lost profits claims of new businesses should be rejected.
Contracts professors, judges, lawyers and law students will be inspired by this volume to rethink the law of contract damages.
In analyzing direct damages, the author treats the problem as pricing the option to terminate. This sheds light on the question of the date at which damages should be measured and the role of post-breach information in damage assessment. It shows how the treatment of the so-called lost volume seller in both countries results in the court constructing an absurd contract, setting an option price with perverse characteristics. Goldberg then considers two questions regarding consequential damages—the enforceability of consequential damages exclusion clauses and whether the lost profits claims of new businesses should be rejected.
Contracts professors, judges, lawyers and law students will be inspired by this volume to rethink the law of contract damages.
Critical Acclaim
‘There is much to recommend this book, particularly if you enjoy having long-held assumptions about a case challenged. Goldberg is to be warmly commended for speaking to an audience beyond the US. I hope that he continues to turn his gaze to English case law (and perhaps beyond) and causes us all to rethink some of the assumptions we operate under.’
– Katy Barnett, Cambridge Law Journal
‘Professor Goldberg’s book provides a wealth of new insights into the English cases on contract damages, through impressively detailed research that includes the unearthing of new materials. Goldberg notes from the outset that he comes to English law “as an outsider” and the lens through which he evaluates the cases rests on a premise that many English contract scholars are unlikely to accept. And yet, as a spur to “rethinking” contract damages, this approach makes a provocative and valuable contribution, and I learned a lot from reading the book.’
– Andrew Summers, London School of Economics, UK
– Katy Barnett, Cambridge Law Journal
‘Professor Goldberg’s book provides a wealth of new insights into the English cases on contract damages, through impressively detailed research that includes the unearthing of new materials. Goldberg notes from the outset that he comes to English law “as an outsider” and the lens through which he evaluates the cases rests on a premise that many English contract scholars are unlikely to accept. And yet, as a spur to “rethinking” contract damages, this approach makes a provocative and valuable contribution, and I learned a lot from reading the book.’
– Andrew Summers, London School of Economics, UK
Contents
Contents: Introduction Part 1. Direct Damages 1. Reckoning Contract Damages: Valuation Of The Contract As An Asset 2. After The Golden Victory: Still Lost at Sea 3. The Lost Volume Seller, US 4. The Lost Volume Seller, UK 5. British Westinghouse and The New Flamenco: Misunderstanding Mitigation 6. The Middleman’s Damages Revisited 7. Contract Damages when there are Sub-Sales, UK 8. Rethinking Jacob and Youngs v. Kent Part 2. Indirect Damages 9. Victoria Laundry’s Dirty Linen 10. Consequential Damages and Exclusion Clauses, US 11. Consequential Damages and Exclusion Clauses, UK 12. The New Business Rule and Compensation for Lost Profits Bibliography Index
