Landmark Cases in the Law of Contract

Landmark Cases in the Law of Contract offers twelve original essays by leading contract scholars. As with the essays in the companion volume, Landmark Cases in the Law of Restitution (Hart, 2006) each essay takes as its focus a particular leading case, and analyses that case in its historical or theoretical context. The cases range from the early eighteenth- to the late twentieth-centuries, and deal with an array of contractual doctrines. Some of the essays call for their case to be stripped of its landmark status, whilst others argue that it has more to offer than we have previously appreciated. The particular historical context of these landmark cases, as revealed by the authors, often shows that our current assumptions about the case and what it stands for are either mistaken, or require radical modification. The book also explores several common themes which are fundamental to the development of the law of contract: for instance, the influence of commercial expectations, appeals to 'reason' and the significance of particular judicial ideologies and techniques.

Charles Mitchell is Professor of Law at UCL. His recent publications include Underhill & Hayton's Law Relating to Trusts and Trustees (19th edn, 2015) (with David Hayton and Paul Matthews) and Goff and Jones: The Law of Unjust Enrichment (8th edn, 2010) (with Paul Mitchell and Stephen Watterson). Paul Mitchell is Professor of Law at UCL. His recent publications include A History of Tort Law 1900-1950 (2015) and Goff and Jones: The Law of Unjust Enrichment (8th edn, 2010) (with Charles Mitchell and Stephen Watterson). Together they have also co-edited Landmark Cases in the Law of Restitution, Landmark Cases in the Law of Tort and Landmark Cases in Equity (all from Hart Publishing).