Comparative Contract Law in the Age of Automation

Catalog description

Contracts represent the foundation of modern exchange, but their meaning and moral force are shifting under the pressures of standardization and algorithmic mediation. This course compares EU and US approaches to standard-form agreements, algorithmic contracting, and consumer protection. It asks how law should respond when consent, terms, and even promissory performance are machine-generated. Through readings and cases, students shall examine how contract law adapts-or fails to adapt-to automation, and whether classical doctrines of consent, fairness, and enforcement can withstand an era of machine-mediated contracting.