Influential Sources of Contract Law - Explained
Restatement of Contracts and Article 2 of the UCC
Written by J. Mance Gordon
Updated at April 19th, 2024
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What are the sources of contract law?
States create their own contract law. They pass statutes and allow courts to develop common law. In doing so, state legislators and judges rely upon model laws in developing the statutory and common law. These model laws are known as the Restatement of Contracts and the Uniform Commercial Code. T
hese model laws influence judges who interpret contract law and legislators who draft statutes that resemble (or copy exactly) these model laws. As such, you can study model laws to acquire a broad understanding of how contract law works. You can then look to the specific laws of your state to determine the exact law that applies to a given situation.
What is the Restatement of Contracts?
The Restatement of Contracts (Restatement) is a model law that deals primarily with contracts that do not involve the sale of goods or when goods are not the primary subject of the contract. Most state common law generally tracks closely the provisions of the Restatement.
What is Article 2 of the Uniform Commercial Code?
Article 2 of the Uniform Commercial Code (UCC) governs contracts for the sale of goods. It has been uniformly accepted by nearly every state in the United States. A sale of goods includes any manufactured product, crops, timber, livestock, attachments to land, exchanged currencies, mined minerals, etc. It does not include intellectual property, securities, non-commodity currencies, and un-mined minerals.
To be subject to the provision of the UCC, goods must be the primary purpose of the contract. If services are the primary purpose of the agreement, the incidental inclusion of goods is not covered by the UCC or corresponding state statutes.
Related Topics
- What is a Contract?
- Contract Theory Definition
- Meeting of the Minds
- Doctrine of Utmost Good Faith
- Aleatory Contract Definition
- What are the sources of contract law?
- Restatement of Contracts
- Uniform Commercial Code
- Convention on Contracts for the International Sale of Goods (CISG)
- What is a Unilateral Contract vs a Bilateral Contract?
- What is an Express Contract vs an Implied Contract?
- What are the requirements to form a Contract (Offer, Acceptance, Consideration)?
- What is an Enforceable Contract vs. a Valid Contract?
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- What type of writing satisfies the statute of frauds?
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- What is assignment and delegation of a contract?
- When is a party's Duty of performance?
- Aleatory Contract
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- What are Impossibility and Impracticability
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- Force Majeure Clause
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- Repudiation (Contract) Definition
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- Assumpsit
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- Boilerplate
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- Addendum
- Allonge Definition
- What is the Parol Evidence Rule?
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