About | HeinOnline Law Journal Library | HeinOnline Law Journal Library | HeinOnline
LOG IN
LOG IN

8 DePaul Bus. & Comm. L.J. 199 (2009-2010)
The Law of Standard Form Contracts: Misguided Intuitions and Suggestions for Reconstruction

handle is hein.journals/depbcl8 and id is 205 raw text is: The Law of Standard Form Contracts: Misguided Intuitions and Suggestions for Reconstruction Shmuel L Becher* & Esther Unger-Aviram** ABSTRACT The law of standard form contracts rests on intuitions. This Essay explores these intuitions and examines intended consumer behavior in common contracting contexts. The first study in this Essay focuses on the intent of consumers to read form contracts in four different scenarios. The second examines the extent to which prevalent ra- tional-economic factors influence potential consumers in their intent to read form contracts. Our findings support some of the common assumptions found in contract law literature and contradict others. The findings from the first questionnaire support the assumption that most consumers do not read most of the contracts in their entirety at the time of con- tracting. However, the findings do not support the assumption found in some literature that a substantial minority of consumers read their contracts and thus might discipline sellers. The results also show that many more consumers indicate a tendency to read contracts after the fact. The findings of the second questionnaire show that at the time of contracting, the most prevalent rational-economic reasons for reading the contract are cost, length of contract and the prospects of influenc- ing or changing contract terms. Cost and the chance to influence or change contract terms are also detrimental factors in consumers' in- tention to read form contracts after the fact, as is the opportunity to learn new things about their rights and obligations under the contract. Quite surprisingly, however, legal jargon, print density and font size are not key factors in consumers' decisions on whether to read their contracts. As the Essay explains, all of these findings might serve policy makers and courts in better designing the law that governs con- sumer form contracts. * Associate Professor, Colman Law School-College of Management Academic Studies. LL.B., Tel Aviv University (2001); LL.M (2003), J.S.D. (2005), Yale Law School. We thank Ben Alarie, Eyal Zamir, and the participants at the Conference on Empirical Legal Studies (2008) at Cornell Law School for comments and discussions on earlier drafts. We also acknowledge the kind support of the Research Foundation of The College of Management Academic Stud- ies-School of Law, and thank Dana Lapidos and Renan Feldman for their able research assistance. ** Assistant Professor, Sapir Academic College. 199

What Is HeinOnline?

HeinOnline is a subscription-based resource containing thousands of academic and legal journals from inception; complete coverage of government documents such as U.S. Statutes at Large, U.S. Code, Federal Register, Code of Federal Regulations, U.S. Reports, and much more. Documents are image-based, fully searchable PDFs with the authority of print combined with the accessibility of a user-friendly and powerful database. For more information, request a quote or trial for your organization below.



Short-term subscription options include 24 hours, 48 hours, or 1 week to HeinOnline.

Purchase Access

Contact us for annual subscription options:

Contact Us

Already a HeinOnline Subscriber?

Log In

profiles profiles most