Symposium 2016 | Divergence and Reform in the Common Law of Contracts

With our co-hosts Dean Blake Morant of The George Washington University Law School and Professors Larry DiMatteo of the University of Florida and Martin Hogg of the University of Edinburgh, The George Washington Law Review is proud to present its Fall 2016 Symposium, Divergence and Reform in the Common Law of Contracts.  This Symposium continues a tradition of biennial conferences that began at the University of Sheffield in 2011, followed by a conference held at the University of Edinburgh in 2013.  But this 2016 Symposium is not your grandfather’s contract law.  Instead, this conference takes a 21st Century approach to comparative issues in contract law, examining the most pressing controversies, debates, and challenges currently shaping the United States and United Kingdom’s shared legal tradition in the area of common law contracts.

Our participants’ thoughtful answers will be published in The George Washington Law Review’s special symposium issue, Volume 85, Issue 6 (forthcoming 2017).  Thank you to all the panelists for their significant contributions to this important subject.  A special thank you to our co-hosts for bringing this Symposium to The George Washington Law Review.  This event could not have occurred without the exemplary leadership of Carla Graff, Senior Projects Editor, and the hard work of Carolyn Harris, Patrick Lynch, Laura Mulherin, Rebecca Schwartz, and the Symposium Committee members.

8:00-8:45 AM: Breakfast and Registration

9:00 AM: Opening Address: Dean Blake Morant, The George Washington University Law School, “Importance of Comparative Law for Law Reform”

9:30 AM: Keynote Speaker: Hon. Lord Patrick Hodge, Justice on the U.K. Supreme Court, Keynote Address

10:45 AM: Panel 1 – Share Economy and the Edges of Contract Law

• Moderator: Judge Barbara Keenan, U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit
• Miriam Cherry, Director, William C. Wefel Center for Employment Law and Professor of Law, St. Louis University Law School
• Dr. Rolf H. Weber, Faculty of Law, University of Zurich
• Matthias Storme, Professor of Law, KU Leuven

12:00 PM: Coffee Break

12:15 PM: Panel 2 – Contractual Remedies

• Larry DiMatteo, Huber Hurst Professor of Contract Law, University of Florida Levin College of Law
• Mindy Chen-Wishart, Professor of the Law of Contract and Associate Dean of Graduates, Oxford University
• Mariana Pargendler, Professor of Law and Director of the Center for Law, Economics, and Governance, Fundação Getulio Vargas; Global Associate Professor of Law, New York University School of Law

1:30 PM: Lunch

3:00 PM: Panel 3 – Contract Interpretation and Good Faith

• Moderator: Dean Blake Morant, The George Washington University Law School
• Robert Stevens, Herbert Smith Freehills Professor of English Private Law, University of Oxford
• Lawrence Cunningham, Henry St. George Tucker III Research Professor, The George Washington University Law School
• Martin Hogg, Professor of the Law of Obligations, Edinburgh Law School

4:30 PM: Panel 4 – Consumer Contract Law

• Moderator: Judge Carlos Lucero, U.S. Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit
• Geraint Howells, Chair Professor of Commercial Law and Dean of the Law School, City University of Hong Kong
• James Nehf, Professor of Law and Cleon H. Foust Fellow, Indiana University Robert H. McKinney School of Law

5:45 PM: Closing Reception and Remarks

Subject to revision. All events to be held at The George Washington University Law School.  For more information, please contact Carla Graff, Law Review Senior Projects Editor, at cgraff@law.gwu.edu.