Ian Ayres and Gregory Klass
- Published in print:
- 2005
- Published Online:
- October 2013
- ISBN:
- 9780300106756
- eISBN:
- 9780300127133
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Yale University Press
- DOI:
- 10.12987/yale/9780300106756.001.0001
- Subject:
- Law, Company and Commercial Law
How can a promise be a lie? Answer: when the promisor never intended to perform the promise. Such incidences of promissory fraud are frequently litigated because they can result in punitive damages ...
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How can a promise be a lie? Answer: when the promisor never intended to perform the promise. Such incidences of promissory fraud are frequently litigated because they can result in punitive damages awards, and an insincere promisor can even be held criminally liable. Yet courts have provided little guidance about what the scope of liability should be or what proof should be required. This book—devoted to the analysis of promissory fraud—answers these questions. Filled with examples of insincere promising from the case law as well as from literature and popular culture, it is an indispensable guide for those who practice or teach contract law, and explores what promises say from the perspectives of philosophy, economics, and the law. The authors identify four chief mistakes that courts make in promissory fraud cases, and offer a theory for how courts and practitioners should handle promissory fraud cases.Less
How can a promise be a lie? Answer: when the promisor never intended to perform the promise. Such incidences of promissory fraud are frequently litigated because they can result in punitive damages awards, and an insincere promisor can even be held criminally liable. Yet courts have provided little guidance about what the scope of liability should be or what proof should be required. This book—devoted to the analysis of promissory fraud—answers these questions. Filled with examples of insincere promising from the case law as well as from literature and popular culture, it is an indispensable guide for those who practice or teach contract law, and explores what promises say from the perspectives of philosophy, economics, and the law. The authors identify four chief mistakes that courts make in promissory fraud cases, and offer a theory for how courts and practitioners should handle promissory fraud cases.
Ian Ayres and Gregory Klass
- Published in print:
- 2005
- Published Online:
- October 2013
- ISBN:
- 9780300106756
- eISBN:
- 9780300127133
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Yale University Press
- DOI:
- 10.12987/yale/9780300106756.003.0006
- Subject:
- Law, Company and Commercial Law
This chapter examines the kinds of evidence that the courts should consider when answering each inquiry. After deciding what a promise says, it is necessary to determine whether it is true or false, ...
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This chapter examines the kinds of evidence that the courts should consider when answering each inquiry. After deciding what a promise says, it is necessary to determine whether it is true or false, and whether the promisor acted culpably or not. The former is called the veracity question and the latter is the scienter question. Courts in a number of jurisdictions have placed heavy evidentiary burdens on claimants alleging promissory fraud. The chapter then suggests that rather than placing a heavy evidentiary bar in civil cases, courts should just diligently oversee actions for promissory fraud.Less
This chapter examines the kinds of evidence that the courts should consider when answering each inquiry. After deciding what a promise says, it is necessary to determine whether it is true or false, and whether the promisor acted culpably or not. The former is called the veracity question and the latter is the scienter question. Courts in a number of jurisdictions have placed heavy evidentiary burdens on claimants alleging promissory fraud. The chapter then suggests that rather than placing a heavy evidentiary bar in civil cases, courts should just diligently oversee actions for promissory fraud.
Ian Ayres and Gregory Klass
- Published in print:
- 2005
- Published Online:
- October 2013
- ISBN:
- 9780300106756
- eISBN:
- 9780300127133
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Yale University Press
- DOI:
- 10.12987/yale/9780300106756.003.0009
- Subject:
- Law, Company and Commercial Law
This chapter discusses the importance of teaching promissory fraud in law schools, in several of which promissory fraud falls between the subjects of contracts and torts. Contracts professors feel ...
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This chapter discusses the importance of teaching promissory fraud in law schools, in several of which promissory fraud falls between the subjects of contracts and torts. Contracts professors feel like not teaching it because it is formally a tort, while Torts professors view it as having to do with promissory liability. Because of this, most law students graduate without knowing that such action exists. Promissory fraud is a frequently litigated cause of action. This is not surprising because it is one of the only ways to overcome the preclusive impacts of doctrines such as the Statute of Frauds and the parole evidence rule, and to recover punitive damages where there has been a breach of contract.Less
This chapter discusses the importance of teaching promissory fraud in law schools, in several of which promissory fraud falls between the subjects of contracts and torts. Contracts professors feel like not teaching it because it is formally a tort, while Torts professors view it as having to do with promissory liability. Because of this, most law students graduate without knowing that such action exists. Promissory fraud is a frequently litigated cause of action. This is not surprising because it is one of the only ways to overcome the preclusive impacts of doctrines such as the Statute of Frauds and the parole evidence rule, and to recover punitive damages where there has been a breach of contract.
Ian Ayres and Gregory Klass
- Published in print:
- 2005
- Published Online:
- October 2013
- ISBN:
- 9780300106756
- eISBN:
- 9780300127133
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Yale University Press
- DOI:
- 10.12987/yale/9780300106756.003.0002
- Subject:
- Law, Company and Commercial Law
This chapter presents a theoretical paradigm for thinking about promises as both doings and sayings, and explores the idea of promises from the area of law. The legal action for breach of contract ...
More
This chapter presents a theoretical paradigm for thinking about promises as both doings and sayings, and explores the idea of promises from the area of law. The legal action for breach of contract shows the more familiar aspect of promises: that they are used to expressly undertake an obligation. Civil actions for promissory fraud and the crime of false promise to focus on the other aspect of promises: what they say.Less
This chapter presents a theoretical paradigm for thinking about promises as both doings and sayings, and explores the idea of promises from the area of law. The legal action for breach of contract shows the more familiar aspect of promises: that they are used to expressly undertake an obligation. Civil actions for promissory fraud and the crime of false promise to focus on the other aspect of promises: what they say.
