To order a paperback version of this casebook, please click here. This innovative coursebook on Louisiana's law of obligations covers the law of contractual obligations in particular and the General Principles that govern the whole law of "Obligations." It features carefully edited excerpts from Louisiana judicial opinions and scholarly writings, as well as citations to pertinent articles of the Louisiana Civil Code. Additionally, this coursebook includes features that most others do not. Following each case is a series of questions, some designed to direct students to the significant points of the court's analysis, others designed to deepen students' understanding of civil law methodology. This book not only provides students (and lawyers) with a comprehensive introduction to Louisiana's law of Obligations, but also invites readers to draw comparisons between that law and the complimentary law of other legal systems. "Many will praise the authors for having adopted and applied all through this casebook an approach intentionally comparative as evidenced by the sub-title of the work... One will recognize all through this volume the well-known qualities and features that are customarily found in the scholarly world of the 'civilistes', the specialists of the civil law: a well-organized and structured thinking process unfolding according to a clear and logical plan and expressed in a precise and elegant language." -- Xavier Blanc-Jouvan, Professor emeritus University of Paris II; Treasurer, International Academy of Comparative La; former President, Société de Législation Comparée (translated from French)

A central puzzle in jurisprudence has been the role of custom in law. Custom is simply the practices and usages of distinctive communities. But are such customs legally binding? Can custom be law, even before it is recognized by authoritative legislation or precedent? And, assuming that custom is a source of law, what are its constituent elements? Is proof of a consistent and long-standing practice sufficient, or must there be an extra ingredient - that the usage is pursued out of a sense of legal obligation, or, at least, that the custom is reasonable and efficacious? And, most tantalizing of all, is custom a source of law that we should embrace in modern, sophisticated legal systems, or is the notion of law from below outdated, or even dangerous, today? This volume answers these questions through a rigorous multidisciplinary, historical, and comparative approach, offering a fresh perspective on custom's enduring place in both domestic and international law.

Promises and Contract Law is the first modern work to explore the significance of promise to contract law from a comparative legal perspective. Part I explores the component elements of promise, its role in Greek thought and Roman law, the importance of the moral duty to keep promises and the development of promissory ideas in medieval legal scholarship. Part II considers the modern contract law of a number of legal systems from a promissory perspective. The focus is on the law of England, Germany and three mixed legal systems (Scotland, South Africa and Louisiana), though other legal systems are also mentioned. Major topics subjected to a promissory analysis include formation of contract, third party rights, contractual remedies and the renunciation of contractual rights. Part III analyses the future role which promise might play in contract law, especially within a harmonised European contract law.