Conference: Fault In Contract Law

Organized by Omri Ben-Shahar, Frank and Bernice Greenberg Professor of Law, University of Chicago Law School, and Ariel Porat, Alain Poher Professor of Law, Tel-Aviv University.

This symposium reevaluates the role of fault in contract doctrine. Fault is the central organizing principle in areas of the law that deal with liability. But, surprisingly, fault is largely considered alien to contract law. Indeed, breaking a promise creates liability even in the absence of fault, and the remedies available to the victim are believed not to be dependent on the breaching party’s culpability. This fundamental idea of no fault is, and has been for ages, the dominant view in American contract law. It is boldly stated in the Restatement of Contracts, emphasized in treatises and textbooks, and taught to first-year law students in their first week of law school.

Further information and the conference schedule are available here.

Sponsored by the University of Chicago Law School and the John M. Olin Center for Law and Economics at the University of Michigan.