Contract Law

Contract law is an essential part of 1L law school education. The facts and law that are relevant to entering into and enforcing contracts, and the issues that arise from these, have challenged lawyers, judges, and law students for centuries. Important classic cases in contract law, still studied today, refer to English precedents that resulted from significant judicial interpretations. These selected contract cases have articulated principles that form part of the foundation of modern American commercial activities.

Hochster v. De La Tour (1853)
If a party informs the other party of their intent to breach an agreement, the non-repudiating party may immediately file suit for anticipatory breach of contract. The non-repudiating party does not need to wait until the date of performance to commence action in order to claim damages.

Hadley v. Baxendale (1854)
Hadley v. Baxendale held that the measure of consequential damages in a breach of contract case shall only consist of the damages that arise naturally from the breach, or those which both parties would have seen as reasonably certain to occur at the time the contract was formed.

Taylor v. Caldwell (1863)
Taylor v. Caldwell established the principle that parties are released from a contract when the object upon which it depends is destroyed, creating a condition of impossibility for its performance, if without fault of either party and without stipulation or evident contemplation of that result.

Carlill v. Carbolic Smoke Ball Co. (1892)
Carlill v. Carbolic Smoke Ball Company held that an advertisement, in the absence of language stating otherwise, is an offer of a valid contract that is accepted upon performance.

Morrison v. Thoelke (1963)
Morrison v. Thoelke held that when a contract can be accepted by mail, the acceptance is valid when it is sent by the offeree. This is often referred to as the mailbox rule.