LAW - 973 International Contracts and Sales

(2-3 hrs.)

This course covers many facets of the international commercial sales of goods. It is meant to be realistic and practical, and for that reason includes comparative as well as international law. The focus of the course is the UN Convention on Contracts for the International Sale of Goods (CISG), with comparisons to domestic systems in both the common law (especially UCC Article 2) and the civil law (mainly French and German systems). The class also covers typical payment and credit terms with particular attention to letters of credit. In addition, the course addresses transportation of the goods and the risk of loss. The course emphasizes not only the different rules of domestic and international law but also the varying legal cultures, attitudes, and perspectives of the lawyers and businesses who participate in these transactions, as well as the commercial realities of doing business in multiple countries.