'The Reasonable Expectations of the Parties': An Unhelpful Concept

Abstract:     
This essay argues that the idea of protecting 'the reasonable expectations of the parties' is unhelpful for understanding how contract law does, or should, work. The 'reasonable expectations of the parties' stands for a number of different ideas. Individually, none of these ideas are or should be applicable to more than a small part of contract law; collectively, the only thing they have in common is that each is better expressed using a different concept. The idea that contract law does and should protect the reasonable expectations of the parties is essentially a slogan.

Number of Pages in PDF File: 19

Keywords: contract, reasonable expectations, contract interpretation

JEL Classification: K12

working papers series