Publication Date
10-2024
Abstract
Boilerplate contracts have long fascinated legal scholars. But the focus has been largely on consumer contracts, with the debate centered on the question of whether take-it-or-leave-it mass-produced forms imposed on consumers by large corporations should be treated as contracts or as a problem in regulation. By contrast, commercial boilerplate — the standard forms used in transactions for corporate or sovereign bonds or merger agreements — has traditionally received little attention. The assumption has been that form contracts among sophisticated parties may differ in form but not in substance from bespoke contracts between business entities. Yet a growing body of scholarship is questioning that assumption. This article reviews the complexities of contract production in these large markets and provides a window into an exciting new area of contracts research.
Disciplines
Commercial Law | Contracts | Law
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
Recommended Citation
Robert E. Scott, Stephen J. Choi & Mitu Gulati,
Commercial Boilerplate: A Review and Research Agenda,
20
Ann. Rev. L. & Soc. Sci.
201
(2024).
Available at:
https://scholarship.law.columbia.edu/faculty_scholarship/4563
