Oliver Wendell Holmes Quote On Contracts, Obligations, And Damages
I often get questions about whether someone must perform under a construction contract or an architects agreement, and what happens if they don't. Will a judge, or a sheriff sent by a judge compel them?
Over 110 years ago the late Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes gave the best answer I've seen in his article The Path of the Law:
The common law Justice Holmes refers to still holds as true as much today as it did in 1897. There's some exceptions, but I've yet to see one in the case of a construction contract. Odds are you won't either.
Over 110 years ago the late Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes gave the best answer I've seen in his article The Path of the Law:
Nowhere is the confusion between moral and legal ideas more manifest than in the law of contract...The duty to keep a contract at common law means a prediction that you must pay damages if you do not keep it - and nothing else.
The common law Justice Holmes refers to still holds as true as much today as it did in 1897. There's some exceptions, but I've yet to see one in the case of a construction contract. Odds are you won't either.
Construction Law Today is a legal blog about construction contracts, disputes, finance, and the people whose job it is to deal with them.
