Contract Law

Religious Covenants

Nicole Stelle Garnett & Patrick E. Reidy, C.S.C.

Abstract When religious institutions alienate property, they often include religiously motivated deed restrictions that bind future owners, sometimes in perpetuity. These “religious covenants” serve different purposes and advance different goals. Some prohibit land uses that the alienating faith communities consider illicit; others seek to ensure continuity of faith commitments; still, others signal public disaffiliation with […]

Christopher R. Drahozal & Erin O'Hara O'Connor, Unbundling Procedure: Carve-Outs From Arbitration Clauses

A rich literature analyzes how parties choose between courts and arbitration. Within this literature, scholars traditionally assume that sophisticated parties make a single choice between courts and arbitration based on the bundle of dispute resolution services that seems most appealing ex ante. As with the literature on bundling generally, however, legal scholars are increasingly focusing […]

F. Patrick Hubbard, "Sophisticated Robots": Balancing Liability, Regulation, and Innovation

Our lives are being transformed by large, mobile, “sophisticated robots” with increasingly higher levels of autonomy, intelligence, and interconnectivity among themselves. For example, driverless automobiles are likely to become commercially available within a decade. Many people who suffer physical injuries from these robots will seek legal redress for their injury, and regulatory schemes are likely […]

Rachel Arnow-Richman, Mainstreaming Employment Contract Law: The Common Law Case for Reasonable Notice of Termination

This Article simultaneously exposes a fundamental error in employment termination doctrine and a paradox in contract law jurisprudence. Contemporary employment law has developed under the assumption that at-will parties may terminate their relationship both without reason and without notice. This Article argues that the second half of this formulation—the idea that parties reserve the procedural […]

Questioning the Ubiquitousness, But Not the Value, of Arbitration Carve-outs

Larry A. DiMatteo

Abstract Response to Christopher R. Drahozal & Erin O’Hara O’Connor, Unbundling Procedure: Carve-Outs from Arbitration Clauses Christopher R. Drahozal & Erin O’Hara O’Connor’s article entitled Unbundling Procedure: Carve-Outs from Arbitration Clauses impressively describes the phenomena of carving-out and carving-in in dispute resolution clauses. My review of numerous international contracts, especially those involving the sale of goods, has found that […]

And Therefore . . . . : Comments on “Unbundling Procedure: Carve-Outs from Arbitration Provisions”

Jeffrey L. Harrison

Abstract Response to Christopher R. Drahozal & Erin O’Hara O’Connor, Unbundling Procedure: Carve-Outs from Arbitration Clauses In Unbundling Procedure: Carve-Outs from Arbitration Clauses, Christopher R. Drahozal and Erin O’Hara O’Connor offer a wealth of information about how sophisticated parties allocate the costs and risks of various forms of dispute resolution. What they discover is that these parties, […]

John Terwilleger, Can A Professional Limit Liability Contractually Under Florida Law?

Florida law is currently unclear on the issue of whether a professional may rely upon a limitation of liability clause in a professional services contract. Limitation of liability clauses are common in business contracts, especially in construction, a field that includes many professionals such as engineers and architects. While Florida has historically enforced limitation of liability clauses in professional services contracts, […]

Marc Edelman, Closing the “Free Speech” Loophole: the Case for Protecting College Athletes’ Publicity Rights in Commercial Video Games

When Electronic Arts Inc. (Electronic Arts) launched its video game series NCAA Football in June 1993, the available technology limited developers to crafting avatars that looked like faceless figurines. Today, however, advancements in digital technology have enabled developers to create “virtual players” that strongly resemble their reallife counterparts. For example, in NCAA Football 12, the […]

Steven L. Schwarcz, Compensating Market Value Losses: Rethinking the Theory of Damages in a Market Economy

63 Fla. L. Rev. 1053 (2011)| | | ARTICLE :: The BP Deepwater Horizon oil spill and the Toyota car recalls have highlighted an important legal anomaly that has been overlooked by scholars: judicial inconsistency and confusion in ruling whether to compensate for the loss in market value of wrongfully affected property. This Article seeks […]

Andrea M. Matwyshyn, Hidden Engines of Destruction: The Reasonable Expectation of Code Safety and the Duty to Warn in Digital Products

62 Fla. L. Rev. 109 (2010) |   |   |   | INTRODUCTION :: This Article explores a seemingly straightforward question: to what extent is a consumer entitled to know how digital products work and the likelihood of digital harm? In previous work, I have explored this question in the context of contract law […]

Andres Healy, The Constitutionality of Amended 10 U.S.C. § 802(A)(10): Does the Military Need a Formal Invitation to Reign in “Cowboy” Civilian Contractors?

62 Fla. L. Rev. 519 (2010) |   |   |   | INTRODUCTION :: Alaa “Alex” Mohammad Ali never set out to make history. He just needed a job. Nevertheless, on February 23, 2008, Ali took his first step toward making history, and did it with blood on his hands. What began as an […]

Lisa Eichhorn, Sense of Disentitlement: Frame-Shifting and Metaphor in Ashcroft v. Iqbal

62 Fla. L. Rev. 951 (2010) | | | | INTRODUCTION :: Judicial opinions analyzing civil procedure issues are unlikely sources of rich imagery. Recent legal scholarship on metaphor has focused on sexier areas of the law, such as constitutional interpretation or the regulation of new technologies. Nevertheless, beneath the superficially arid terrain of civil […]

E. Farish Percy, Applying the Common Fund Doctrine to an Erisa-Governed Employee Benefit Plan's Claim for Subrogation or Reimbursement

61 Fla. L. Rev. 55 (2009) | | | | INTRODUCTION :: Imagine that you sustain brain injury when your car collides with another vehicle. You incur $ 1 million in medical expenses, which your employee welfare benefit plan, governed by the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA), covers. You will never be […]

Jennifer S. Martin, Adapting U.C.C. § 2-615 Excuse for Civilian-Military Contractors in Wartime

61 Fla. L. Rev. 99 (2009) | | | | ABSTRACT :: When should a civilian seller of goods who delays delivery or cancels altogether under a wartime contract be able to claim excuse under U.C.C. Article 2? The unprecedented extent of the U.S. military’s use of contractors abroad calls for a rethinking of U.C.C. […]

Kevin R. Reitz, Demographic Impact Statements, O’Connor’s Warning, and the Mysteries of Prison Release: Topics from a Sentencing Reform Agenda

61 Fla. L. Rev. 683 (2009) | | | | INTRODUCTION :: Begun in the 1950s, the drafting of the Model Penal Code (the Code) differed from the typical American Law Institute (ALI) “restatement” of the law project because it was an explicit attempt to provide a model statute that would advance doctrine and practice […]

Allison Sirica, A Great Gamble: Why Compromise Is the Best Bet to Resolve Florida's Indian Gaming Crisis

61 Fla. L. Rev. 1201 (2009) | | | | INTRODUCTION :: “Indian gaming is a national multi-billion dollar enterprise and growing.” Even in 2008, amidst an economic downturn, the revenues generated by the tribal gaming industry continued to show growth. In 2008 alone, Indian gaming generated $ 26.7 billion and accounted for a little […]

Julia Patterson Forrester, Still Crazy After All These Years: The Absolute Assignment Of Rents In Mortgage Loan Transactions

59 Fla. L. Rev. 487 (2007) | | | | ABSTRACT :: This Article explores the problems caused by the absolute assignment of rents in mortgage loan transactions, which have continued for more than a century, and discusses possible solutions. Rents are a significant part of the security for loans secured by income-producing properties such […]

Brandon Faulkner, Hacking into Data Breach Notification Laws

59 Fla. L. Rev. 1097 (2007) | | | | INTRODUCTION :: On March 23, 2007, a news agency announced that the police department in Gainesville, Florida, arrested six individuals on charges that they had stolen credit card data from a corporation’s database and purchased more than $ 8 million in gift cards and electronics […]

Craig Robert Senn, Knowing and Voluntary Waivers of Federal Employment Claims: Replacing the Totality of Circumstances Test with a "Waiver Certainty" Test

58 Fla. L. Rev. 305 (2006) | | | | INTRODUCTION :: Suppose you own a company and you decide to terminate an employee. Other employees have unsuccessfully sued your company for federal employment discrimination, and you want to avoid another discrimination lawsuit and its legal costs. So you offer a generous severance package to […]

Carl J. Circo, Contract Theory and Contract Practice: Allocating Design Responsibility in the Construction Industry

58 Fla. L. Rev. 561 (2006) | | | | INTRODUCTION :: How much does legal theory matter to lawyers who advise clients concerning building design and construction contracts? Theory thrives in contract literature, as philosophers and legal scholars search for justification, essence, coherence, and synthesis. Lawyers litigating contract cases also invoke and confront theory […]

Marisa Lopez, Constitutional Law: Lowering the Standard of Strict Scrutiny

56 Fla. L. Rev. 841 (2004) | | | | INTRODUCTION :: Respondents adopted a law school admissions policy that considered, among other factors, applicants’ race and ethnicity. The admissions policy was designed to achieve the educational benefits of a diverse student body. As part of this policy, admissions officers often considered daily reports that […]