Document Type
Essay
Publication Title
Pace Law Review
Publication Date
2008
Volume
28
First Page
235
DOI
https://doi.org/10.58948/2331-3528.1089
Abstract
(Excerpt)
Wood v. Lucy, Lady Duff-Gordon (the "Lucy Case") presents a rich teaching vehicle for the first year of contracts for multiple reasons. Another participant in this symposium has discussed the Lucy Case to laud its value in teaching fact analysis or issue spotting. Others have commented upon the case for its doctrinal utility in explaining the concepts of illusory contracts, exclusive dealing and best efforts. The historical background, the opinions of Benjamin Cardozo and the opportunity to introduce feminist jurisprudence and law and economics concepts into the first year course are also fertile ground for discussion. Knowing that others would focus on these themes, however, I chose to examine the role of social class in the Lucy Case, the contracts course and in the classroom more generally.
Other scholars have discussed the topic of social class in law schools, most typically concentrating on diversity issues, or how socioeconomic class interacts with race, gender and other factors to impact a law student's learning experience. In this essay, I intend to use the Lucy Case to situate social class discussions around the contracts course. Professor Jeffrey Harrison engendered this type of inquiry when he examined contracts through a socioeconomics lens—socioeconomics being a separate discipline that draws from insights in economics, biology, sociology and other areas. My goal in examining social class issues in the contracts class is twofold: first, to open more inquiry and discussion among first year law students into the distributional nature of contract law, and second, for the students to think about issues of economic stratification more critically. These issues are becoming increasingly more important as, according to recently published studies, the divide in incomes within the United States is at its highest point since the 1920s.
Comments
Available at: https://digitalcommons.pace.edu/plr/vol28/iss2/5/