Contracts: Cases and Theory of Contractual Obligation

Carter G. Bishop, Indiana University School of Law - Indianapolis

Daniel D. Barnhizer, Michigan State University College of Law

George A. Mocsary, University of Wyoming College of Law

CasebookPlus™

This title is available in our CasebookPlus format. CasebookPlus provides support beyond your classroom lectures and materials by offering additional digital resources to you and your students. Anchored by faculty-authored formative self-assessments keyed to our most popular casebooks, CasebookPlus allows students to test their understanding of core concepts as they are learning them in class — on their own, outside of the classroom, with no extra work on your part. CasebookPlus combines three important elements:

• A new print or digital casebook
• Access to a downloadable eBook with the ability to highlight and add notes
• 12-month access to a digital Learning Library complete with:

Multiple-choice self-assessment questions, including:

• Chapter questions keyed to the casebook
• Black Letter Law questions (available in select subjects)
• Subject area review questions for end of semester use

Essay and short answer questions with sample answers and expert commentary, in 1L and select upper-level subjects

Leading digital study aids, an outline starter, and audio lectures in select subjects

Students can still utilize CasebookPlus digital resources if they've purchased a used book or are renting their text by purchasing the Learning Library at westacademic.com.

With CasebookPlus, you can customize your students' learning experience and monitor their performance. The quiz editor allows you to create your own custom quiz set, suppress specific quiz questions or quiz sets, and time-release quiz questions. Additionally, the flexible, customized reporting capability helps you evaluate your students' understanding of the material and can also help your school demonstrate compliance with the new ABA Assessment and Learning Outcomes standards.

Chapter 1

• Intro
  • New paragraph at the very beginning of the chapter

Chapter 2

• The Exercise after the Notes and Questions after Bausch & Lomb v. Bressler is different. The new version is about “Marcia, a professional housepainter, contracted to paint Judy’s house at a contract price of $20,000,” whereas the old version talks about “Abeline, a famous painter, [who] agrees to sell to Barbara a painting for $2,000 cash plus a set of custom made legal seals.” The different circumstances that change the fact pattern slightly are also different
• Notes 1 and 2 at the end of Ch.2.D.1 are slightly different in the 4th edition but substantively the same.
• Ch.2.F.1 is different in the 4th edition. Title of 2.F.1 has been changed from “a. Buyer’s Remedies” to “1. Buyer’s Remedies: Delivery of Non-Conforming Goods–The “Perfect Tender Rule” Versus Damages for Loss in Value.” Section b. has been relabeled as “2. Seller’s Remedies–UCC § 2–708 and the “Lost Volume Seller” Rule”

Chapter 3

• Language added/some omitted from the very beginning of Ch.3
• Right before Ch.3.A. space for two excerpts have been added to the 4th ed: “WESLEY NEWCOMB HOHFELD, SOME FUNDAMENTAL LEGAL CONCEPTIONS AS APPLIED IN JUDICIAL REASONING” and “WESLEY NEWCOMB HOHFELD, FUNDAMENTAL LEGAL CONCEPTIONS AS APPLIED IN JUDICIAL REASONING”
  • The actual language of these hasn’t been added yet
• Editorializing and a figures added after these two periodical excerpts above
• Language added to Note 2 after King v. Trustees of Boston University
• Language added to Note 2 right after Lucy v. Zehmer case / discussion of the Leonard v. Pepsico case
• Language/humor removed from the beginning of Ch.3.C.2. Intro
• Ch.3.C.3.a: Note 2 and its figure after Ricketts v. Scothorn has been omitted and replaced with a new note called “Promissory Estoppel reliance and contract reliance compared”
• Right after Congregation Kadimah Toras-Moshe v. DeLeo, new editorializing language has been added. Also, note 1 in the 3rd edition has been removed. Note 2 in the 3rd edition is now note 1 in the 4th edition, etc.
• Ch.3.C.4.: Discussion about Martin v. Little Brown has been added to the 4th edition

Chapter 4

• Ch.4.A. has been renamed from “Mutual Understanding and Objectification” to just “Mutual Misunderstanding”
• Oswald v. Allen has been added in Ch.4.A.
  • 3 large paragraphs from the 3rd edition have been omitted from the intro
  • Significant intro language before Oswald has been added
  • Oswald replaces Raffles v. Wichelhaus
• Notes & Questions after Raffles have also been omitted and replaced with editorialization after Oswald
• Moderate editing to Ch.4.B. but nothing super substantive
• Ch.4.B.1. “The Promissory Nature of an Offer” has been heavily edited at the beginning of the section with several paragraphs omitted in the 4th edition
• Note 3 after Owen v. Tunison has been removed from 4th edition
  • But a new discussions of Leonard v. Pepsico, Nebraska Seed Co. v. Harsh, and Lefkowitz v. Great Minneapolis Surplus Store have been added
• Part of Note 3 after International Filter Co. v. Conroe Gin, Ice & Light Co. has been omitted in 4th edition
• Ch.B.2. After the notes and questions and right before 4.B.3. “Mailbox Rule” there has been added discussions of Lighthouse RE, LLC v. Zinntex, LLC and South West Terminal Ltd. V. Achter Land & Cattle
• In Ch.4.B.4. There has been added a discussion of Hobbs v. Massasoit Whip Co.
• After Day v. Caton, discussion of Rivera-Colón v. AT&T Mobility Puerto Rico, Inc and Circuit City Stores, Inc. v. Najd has been added before the Notes & Questions
• Note 2 after Day v. Caton has been removed from 4th edition
• Ch.4.B.5. Has been edited heavily with large sections omitted and lots of new language added
• Parts of Carnival Cruise Lines v. Schute have been omitted
• Parts of Note 2 after Carnival Cruise Lines v. Schute have been removed
• Editorializing language after Carnival Cruise Lines v. Schute has been added as well as a discussion of Rayford v. American House Roseville I, LLC
• Parts of Step-Saver Data Systems v. WYSE Technology have been omitted
• Section to Ch.4.C.2. Has been added called “a. Unpacking the Battle of Forms Under UCC § 2–207” that incorporates the original notes that were right after Step-Saver
  • Essentially the Note has been made into its own section
• Note 2 after Step-Saver has also been made into its own section called “2. Sales of Goods Contracts Between Merchants Versus Non-Merchants
• Note 3 after Step-Saver has been omitted entirely
• Ch.4.C.3. Has been edited, removing some language
• Ch.4.D.1. Has been edited significantly, removing large paragraphs and adding new ones
• Notes 1 and 2 after Peterson v. Pattberg has been cut down a lot in the 4th edition
• Note 1 after James Baird v. Gimbel has been removed entirely
• Berryman v. Kmoch and its Notes & Questions have been removed entirely
• Significant language has both been added and removed in discussion of “Precontractual Agreements” in Ch.4.D.4.

Chapter 5

• Language added to intro
• Ch.5.A. has a significant amount of language added about the Parol Evidence Rule
  • And Ch.5.A.1. Has been edited
• After the Notes & Questions after Thompson v. Libbey, there has been discussion added about Town Bank v. City Real Estate Development, LLC
• Notes & Questions after Lee v. Joseph E. Seagram & Sons, Inc. have been changed
  • 2nd has been cut down
  • 4th has been added
• Notes & Questions after Snyder v. Lovercheck
  • Significant amount of language has been added to Note 2
• Ch.5.B.: Lots of new language has been added to intro and several large paragraphs later on have been deleted
• Ch.5.C.: Language has been cut from intro before Wood v. Lucy
• Ch.5.C.2.a: several paragraphs cut from “Warranty Liability” section
• Ch.5.C.2.d: Warranty Disclaimers section has been edited down
• 4th Note/Question after Consolidated Data Terminals v. Applied Digital Data Systems has been added
• Ch.5.D.: Language in section titled “Interpretation Against the Draftsman” has been cut down
• Ch.5.E. “Implied Obligation of Good Faith” has been cut down a bit
• Ch.5.G.
  • “Employment Contracts” intro has been cut down significantly
  • 2 cases added to the end of this section: Duldulao v. Saint Mary of Nazareth Hospital Center and Ferrera v. A.C. Nielson

Chapter 6

• No substantive changes

Chapter 7

• Ch.7.B.1. Notes & Questions - Note 2 has been changed entirely
• Ch.7.C. - Prof. Barnhizer left a comment requesting that the figure be changed with the one from Ch.3 but couldn’t get the formatting right

Chapter 8

• First learning objective language change from “voided” to “voidable”
• No other substantive changes

Chapter 9

• Ch.9.C.1. - changes made to the end of the Alaska Packers’ Ass’n v. Domenico discussion

Chapter 10

• Some language changes to the intro of Ch.10
• Ch.10.A. some language added and some deleted to discussion of Seaver v. Ransom
• Ch.10.A.1. Renamed to “1. Restatement, UCC, and CISG Positions Compared”
  • Part of the first paragraph of this section has been cut
• Ch.10.A.1.a has been added for a designated discussion of the Restatement (Second) of Contracts
  • There are two sections “a.” and I think this is just a formatting error. The second one should be “b. UCC and CISG”
• Ch.10.A.2. Has been cut down significantly
• First paragraph of Ch.10.B. intro has been cut
  • Cut down in other parts too
• Ch.10.B.1. Has been cut down throughout
• Notes & Questions after Herzog v. Irace have been cut down
  • Notes 3 and 4 have been deleted entirely
• Ch.10.B.2. Has been cut down throughout
• Ch.10.B.3. Intro has been cut down
• Parts of Sally Beauty Co. v. Nexxus Products Co. have been cut down (dissenting opinion too)

Learn more about this series.