030544 KU The Common Law of Contracts: The Great Cases (2019S)

In modern common law jurisdictions, the law of contract is – despite many statutory additions – first and foremost case law. A body of law shaped through hundreds of years and thousands of judicial decisions, it underwent a comprehensive reformulation in the 19th century, coinciding with the economic and social change brought about by the industrial revolution. It was in the same period that the idea of “leading cases” was first formulated: cases that embody principles of the common law in exemplary fashion and thus help navigate the never-abating flood of new cases, and that are, therefore, particularly suitable for instruction – “lighthouses of the law, which never fail, are never dimmed, and are most visible in those times when the need for guide is most felt”. Since “Contracts” is one the most important courses of the core law school curriculum, the leading cases in the law of contracts shape the experience of every common lawyer and are part and parcel of modern common law culture.

The course aims to achieve two goals. First, this course will serve as an intense introduction to the substantive law of contracts in the modern common law. We will discuss cases primarily from England and Wales, but also from the Commonwealth and the US. Particularly for students without any prior exposure to the common law and the common law of contracts, this seminar will also provide valuable first insights into common law thinking and methodology. Second, the course also serves as a research seminar; students will have the opportunity to study and discuss individual leading cases in depth from various methodological perspectives – comparative, theoretical, and historical.