1. See United Nations Convention on Contracts for the
International Sale of Goods, U.N. Doc. A/CONF.97/18 (1980), S. TREATY DOC.
NO. 9, 98th Cong., 1st Sess. 22 (1983), 19 I.L.M. 671 (1980)
[hereinafter CISG].
2. See Convention Relating to a Uniform Law on the
International Sale of Goods, July 1, 1964, 834 U.N.T.S. 107.
3. ULIS Article 82 is the source of and is substantively
similar to CISG Article
74. SeeALBERT H. KRITZER,
GUIDE TO PRACTICAL APPLICATIONS OF THE UNITED NATIONS CONVENTION ON
CONTRACTS FOR THE INTERNATIONAL SALE OF GOODS 477 (1989).
Germany and the United States are now signatories to the CISG. For commentary
on the U.S. adoption of the CISG, see infra note 13.
For commentary on the German adoption of the ULIS and later the CISG, see
infra sections 3 and 4.
4. The problem of differing interpretive approaches to international sales
disputes has been predicted. SeePatrick Thieffry,
Sale of Goods Between French and U.S. Merchants: Choice of Law
Considerations Under the U.N. Convention on Contracts for the International
Sale of Goods, 22 INT'L LAW. 1017,
1021 (1988). For a discussion of damage terminology in civil and common law
jurisdictions, see Ugo Draetta, The Notion of Consequential Damages in
the International Trade Practice: A Merger of Common Law and Civil Law
Concepts 4 INT'L BUS. L.J. 487
(1991).
5. See Delchi Carrier, SpA v. Rotorex Corp., No. 88-CV-1078,
1994 WL 495787 (N.D.N.Y. Sept. 9, 1994). The decision was appealed and
cross-appealed. The court of appeals
affirmed with little comment on the issues raised in this Article, but
remanded on
other grounds. See Delchi Carrier, SpA v. Rotorex Corp., Nos.
95-7182, 95-7186 (2d Cir. Dec. 6, 1995).
6. See id. at *1.
7See id.
8. See id.
9. See id.
10. See id.
11. In an attempt to cure the defect, Delchi shipped substitute
Rotorex grommets to its manufacturing plant, spent 790.5 hours to insert the
special grommets, paid for a shipment of additional Rotorex connectors, and
finally inspected and tested the compressors above what was normally expected.
See id. at *2.
12. See id. at *1.
13. CISG is codified at 15 U.S.C.A. app. (West Supp. 1995). The CISG was
ratified by the U.S. Senate on October 9, 1986, and took effect on January 1,
1988. "Disputes arising out of international sales contracts formed after
January 1, 1988, between merchants from signatory nations may be governed by
the [CISG] rather than the Uniform Commercial Code or foreign sales law, unless
the parties specifically state otherwise." See Eric C. Schneider, The Seller's Right to Cure Under the
Uniform Commercial Code and the United Nations Convention on Contracts for the
International Sale of Goods, 7 ARIZ. J. INT'L &
COMP. L. 69, 69-70 (1989) (footnotes omitted).
14. See Delchi, 1994 WL 495787, at *4-5.
15. Consequential damage generally is defined as "[t]hose losses or injuries
which are a result of an act but are not direct and immediate."
BLACK'S LAW DICTIONARY 390 (6th ed. 1990).
16. Delchi, 1994 WL 495787, at *5.
17. Id. at *5-7.
18. See id. at *6 (holding that "Delchi [cannot]
recover on its claim for additional lost profits in Italy because the amount of
damages, if any, can not be established with reasonable certainty.").
19. See id. (citing JOHN HONNOLD, UNIFORM LAW
FOR INTERNATIONAL SALES § 415 (2d ed. 1991) and
Jeffrey S. Sutton, Comment, Measuring Damages Under the United Nations
Convention on the International Sale of Goods, 50 OHIO
ST. L.J. 737, 747-48 (1989)).
20. Delchi, 1994 WL 495787, at *5.
21. See CISG art. 74,
supra note 1, S. TREATY DOC. NO.
9 at 37, 19 I.L.M. at 688.
22. Id. (emphasis added).
23. "[I]t may fairly be said that the New York courts have generally
purported to follow the `contemplation' test and that the application of this
test has narrowed recovery of damages . . . more than the `had reason
to know' test of the Code." 1 STATE OF NEW YORK LAW REVISION
COMMISSION REPORT, Hearings on the Uniform Commercial
Code, 702 (1980). But see
Arthur G. Murphey, Jr., Consequential Damages in Contracts for the
International Sale of Goods and the Legacy of Hadley, 23
GEO. WASH. J. INT'L L. & ECON. 415, 435 n.103 (1989).
Murphey believes the difference in the tests is only apparent since "[n]o
case has been found in which recovery was denied because the injured party did
not foresee the loss." Id. at 435.
24. See Kenford Co. v. County of Erie, 493 N.E.2d 234
(N.Y. 1986) (Kenford I). In Kenford II, the New
York position was further clarified: "In determining the reasonable
contemplation of the parties, the nature, purpose, and particular
circumstances of the contract known by the parties should be considered, as
well as `what liability the defendant fairly may be supposed to have assumed
consciously, or to have warranted the plaintiff reasonably to suppose that it
assumed, when the contract was made.'" Kenford Co. v. County of Erie, 537
N.E.2d 176, 179 (N.Y. 1989) (citations omitted). For a further discussion of
the foreseeability limitation in U.S. courts, see infra
note 42 and accompanying text.
25. See CISG art. 7, supra note 1, S. TREATY DOC. NO. 9 at
23-24, 19 I.L.M. at 673.
26. The provision of expectation and reliance damages is
consistent with the philosophy of the drafters of the CISG. SeeCommentary on the Draft Convention on Contracts for the
International Sale of Goods, Prepared by the
Secretariat, U.N. Doc. A/CONF.97/5 (1979),
reprinted in UNITED NATIONS CONFERENCE ON
CONTRACTS FOR THE INTERNATIONAL SALE OF GOODS, OFFICIAL RECORDS
at 14, U.N. Doc. A/CONF.97/19, U.N. Sales No. E.81.IV.3 (1981) [hereinafter
Commentary]. A similar principle is found in the
U.C.C. and also underlies U.S. law generally. See
U.C.C. § 1-106(1) (1991) ("The remedies provided by this
Act shall be liberally administered to the end that the aggrieved party may be
put in as good a position as if the other party had fully performed but neither
consequential or special nor penal damages may be had except as specifically
provided in this Act or by other rule of law.").
27. In Germany, a civil law jurisdiction, the evidentiary hearing is dominated by
the court, not by the parties. A plaintiff does, however, usually have the
burden of proving facts establishing a claim beyond a reasonable doubt, but
relies on a general presumption that events generally occur in a normal way
unless there is proof to the contrary. See
GERHARD DANNEMANN, AN INTRODUCTION TO GERMAN CIVIL AND COMMERCIAL LAW 101-03 (1993); JOHN H. MERRYMAN, THE CIVIL LAW TRADITION: AN
INTRODUCTION TO THE LEGAL SYSTEMS OF WESTERN EUROPE AND LATIN AMERICA 111-23 (2d ed. 1985); William B. Fisch, Recent
Developments in West German Civil Procedure, 6
HASTINGS INT'L & COMP. L. REV. 221, 279-82 (1983).
28. See George T. Washington, Damages in
Contract at Common Law II, 48 LAW Q. REV.
90, 108 (1932) "(In the early law the problem of
compensation was treated as one of fact for the jury, subject to certain
mechanisms for checking the abuse of discretion . . . .")
[hereinafter Washington, Damages II].
29. See George T. Washington, Damages in
Contract at Common Law, 47 LAW Q. REV.
345, 351-52 (1931); Washington, Damages II,
supra note 28, at 90.
30. See Washington, Damages II, supra note 28, at 90.
31. E. ALLAN FARNSWORTH, CONTRACTS 873 (2d ed. 1990). 32. Id.
33. Id. at 873-74.
34. See id. at 527 (stating that courts have the
"general power to treat a question of fact as one of `law' if the jury
could reasonably find only one way"); Murphey, supra
note 23, at 466 ("[C]ourts now have a practice of limiting
recovery in the `harsh' case solely by saying that damages [are]
. . . `unforeseeable' not as a matter of fact, but as a matter of
fact and law"). As one observed stated:
Comment, Lost Profits as Contract Damages: Problems of Proof and
Limitations on Recovery, 65 YALE L.J. 992, 1026-27 n.181 (1956)
[hereinafter Lost Profits].
35. See FARNSWORTH,
supra note 31, at 537-38.
36. See id. at 538-39.
37. See Lost Profits,
supra note 34, at 1020.
38. The limitations on damages of causation, foreseeability, and certainty have
been used by U.S. judges to limit "disproportionate damages [that] may
induce defendant and other businessmen in similar occupations to shun bilateral
contracts entirely or to insure against future losses by insisting on
liquidated damages that fall short of full compensation, even when the loss
would not be disproportionate". Lost Profits,
supra note 34, at 996.
39. The trend of awarding consequential damages now favors the injured party.
See Murphey, supra note
23, at 422.
40. See Delchi, 1994 WL
495787, at *5.
41. See id.
42. "Incidental damages resulting from the seller's breach
include expenses reasonably incurred in inspection,
receipt, transportation[,] and care and custody of goods rightfully
rejected,
any commercially reasonable charges, expenses or commissions in connection
with
effecting cover and any other reasonable expense incident to the delay or
other
breach." U.C.C. § 2-715(1) (1991).
43. "Subject to the limitations stated in
§§ 350-53, the injured party has a right to damages
based on his expectation interest as measured by (b) any other
loss, including incidental or consequential loss, caused by the breach . .
." RESTATEMENT (SECOND) OF CONTRACTS § 347 (1981).
44. See JAMES J. WHITE &
ROBERT S. SUMMERS, UNIFORM COMMERCIAL CODE 266 (3d ed. 1988);
see also, Ohline Corp. v. Granite Mill, 849 P.2d
602, 605 (Utah App. 1993) (stating that in order to recover incidental damages,
"a buyer must show that the damages resulting from the breach were
reasonable"); Sprague v. Sumitomo Forestry Co., 709 P.2d 1200, 1205-06
(Wash. 1985) (contrasting the difference between consequential damages and
incidental damages). But see also, Mohler v. Jeke,
595 A.2d 1247, 1250 (Pa. Super. Ct. 1991) (stating that in order "to
recover incidental damages under a breach of contract theory, the damages
suffered must be direct and foreseeable").
45.See FARNSWORTH>,
supra note 31, at 880-81; see also
U.C.C. § 2-715(2)(a) (1991)
("Consequential damages resulting from the seller's breach include (a) any
loss resulting from general or particular requirements and needs of which the
seller at the time of contracting had reason to know and which could not
reasonably be prevented by cover or otherwise.").
46. See CISG art. 74,
supra note 1, S. TREATY DOC. NO.
9 at 37, 19 I.L.M. at 688. Nothing in the CISG suggests an
intention to abolish incidental damages. See KRITZER,
supra note 3, at 19;
Murphey, supra note 23, at 459; see
also WHITE & SUMMERS,
supra note 44, at 266 (distinguishing between
"incidental" and "consequential" damages).
47. SeeCISG art. 74,
supra note 1, S. TREATY DOC. NO.
9 at 37, 19 I.L.M. at 688.
48. See U.C.C.
§ 2-715(1) (1991).
49. See Delchi, 1994 WL
495787, at *5 ("Nonetheless, Delchi's action in expediting shipment of
Sanyo compressors was both commercially reasonable and reasonably foreseeable,
and therefore Delchi is entitled to recover 504,305,665 lire as the net cost of
early delivery of Sanyo compressors . . . .").
50. Cover is the right of the party claiming damages to recover "[i]f the
contract is avoided and if, in a reasonable manner and within a reasonable time
after avoidance, the buyer has bought goods in replacement or the seller has
resold the goods." CISG art. 75,
supra note 1, S. TREATY DOC. NO.
9 at 37, 19 I.L.M. at 689.
51. See Delchi, 1994 WL 495787, at *5 ("The
shipment of previously ordered Sanyo compressors did not constitute cover under
CISG [A]rticle 75, because the Sanyo units were previously ordered, and hence
can not be said to have replaced the nonconforming Rotorex
compressors.").
52. CISG art. 77, supra note
1, S. TREATY DOC. NO. 9 at 37, 19 I.L.M. at 689.
53. See Vertue and Bird, 84 Eng. Rep. 1000, 1000
(1677) (holding that plaintiff in an assumpsit suit cannot collect damages
because he did not attempt to avoid damage to goods).
54. The [Restatement of Contracts] states:
(2) The injured party is not precluded from recovery by the rule stated in
Subsection (1) to the extent that he has made reasonable but unsuccessful
efforts to avoid loss.
RESTATEMENT (SECOND) OF CONTRACTS § 350 (1981).
55. The U.C.C. states that "[c]onsequential damages
resulting from the seller's breach include (a) any loss resulting
from general or particular requirements and needs of which the
seller at the time of contracting had reason to know and which could not
reasonably be prevented by cover or otherwise . . . ."
U.C.C. § 2-715(2) (1991).
56. See E. Allan Farnsworth, Damages and
Specific Relief
57. See Delchi, 1994 WL
495787, at *5 (allowing plaintiff to collect the cost of mitigating losses).
58. See FARNSWORTH,
supra note 31, at 897 ("It is sometimes said
that in such cases the injured party is under a duty to
mitigate damages. This is misleading . . . .").
59. Under U.S. law, the burden of proof for showing that the injured party has
not taken steps to avoid damages is on the party in breach. See
FARNSWORTH, supra
note 31, at 897.
60. The Court states in a somewhat circular way that the "Sanyo compressors
did not constitute cover under CISG [A]rticle 75, because the Sanyo units
were previously ordered, and hence can not be said to have replaced the
nonconforming Rotorex compressors." Delchi,
1994 WL 495787, at *5. CISG Article 75 defines "cover" goods as
those "bought" within a reasonable time after avoidance. See
supra note 50 for a definition of cover. Although
the Sanyo compressors were "ordered" previously, it is not clear
whether they were "bought," thus confusing their status as
"covered" goods. See Delchi, 1994 WL
495787, at *5.
61. Delchi, 1994 WL 495787, at *5.
62. See CISG art. 74,
supra note 1, S. TREATY DOC. NO.
9 at 37, 19 I.L.M. at 688 ("Damages for breach of
contract by one party consist of a sum equal to the loss . . .
suffered . . . as a consequence of the breach. Such damages may
not
exceed the loss which the party in breach foresaw or ought to have foreseen
. . . ."). Under the U.C.C., plaintiff can recover
commercially
reasonable expenditures for unsuccessful cover or avoidance as
"incidental
damages." U.C.C. § 2-715 (1991). Incidental damages
include "additional costs incurred after the breach in a reasonable
attempt to avoid loss, even if the attempt is unsuccessful."
FARNSWORTH,
supra note 31, at 880-81 (citing Coast Trading Co. v. Cudahy Co., 592
F.2d
1074 (9th Cir. 1979) (stating that a seller whose resale was not
commercially
reasonable cannot recover incidental damages of costs of resale)).
63. See Delchi, 1994 WL 495787, at *5 ("Delchi
is entitled to recover 13,200,083 lire for the expenses incurred for handling
and storage of Rotorex's nonconforming compressors.").
64. See CISG art. 74,
supra note 1, S. TREATY DOC. NO.
9 at 37, 19 I.L.M. at 688; see also supra
note 59.
65. See Delchi, 1994 WL 495787, at *5 ("[T]he
court holds that Delchi is entitled to 2,103,683 lire as a
reasonable expense.") (emphasis added).
66. See supra note 55.
67. See Delchi, 1994 WL 495787, at *5-7.
68. Delchi, 1994 WL 495787, at *6.
69. See id.
70. Id.
71. See id. at *3.
72. Id.
73. Id.
74. See FARNSWORTH
, supra note 31, at 841. When a
contract is breached or a tort committed, resulting losses or damage may not be
caused by the actual breach or the tort itself, but rather by multiple or
intervening causes, such as the cancellation of an order by Delchi's British
customer or the lack of demand for Arieles in Britain after Rotorex's
breach. Such multiple or intervening causes are less likely to relieve a
defendant from contractual liability than from tort liability. See
id. at 841 n.7 ("Although the same problems of
multiple cause and of intervening cause that enliven the law of torts also
arise in connection with contract damages, they are relatively less important
than in the law of torts.").
75. Delchi, 1994 WL 495787, at *6.
76. "Delchi's claim of 4,000 additional lost sales in Italy is supported
only by the speculative testimony of Italian sales agents . . . .
The number of additional units they might have ordered . . . is not
in evidence, as the court sustained Rotorex's timely objections to the
speculative nature of such testimony." Id.
77. See CISG
art. 74, supra note 1, S. TREATY DOC. NO.
9 at 37, 19 I.L.M. at 688.
78. The factual causation requirement in U.S. contract law is similar to
the causation requirement in a tort claim, except that damages in tort are
intended to put the plaintiff in a pre-tort position, while contract
expectation damages put the plaintiff in the same position as he would have
been had there been full performance. See
FARNSWORTH, supra note 31, at
871 ("The basic principle for the measurement of [contract] damages is
that of compensation based on the injured party's expectation."). For
expectation damages, which include consequential damages, the plaintiff must
also demonstrate what his position would have been with contract performance.
See id. at 841.
79. See Delchi, 1994 WL
495787, at *6.
80. The English court in Hadley v. Baxendale
referred to the French Civil Code's articles 1149-51, and one of the judges
referred to the French requirement of foreseeability. See
Guenter H. Treitel, Remedies for Breach of Contract
(Courses of Action Open to a Party Aggrieved),
in 2 INTERNATIONAL ENCYCLOPEDIA OF
COMPARATIVE LAW 58 (Arthur von Mehren ed., 1976).
81. Hadley v. Baxendale, 156 Eng. Rep. 145 (1854).
82. See Murphey,
supra note 23, at 432 ("The [foreseeability]
rule is often discussed as being two rules or one rule in two parts.").
83. Hadley v. Baxendale, 156 Eng. Rep. at 151.
84. Id.
85. "Whatever the connotation in Hadley's
day, in time, most authorities in the United States -- and
some in England -- equated `foreseeability' with `in the contemplation of
the parties' and concluded that Hadley established
a rule of foreseeability." Murphey, supra
note 23, at 438.
86. See supra notes 54-55.
87. "The principle of excluding damages for unforeseeable
losses is found in the majority of legal systems."
Commentary, supra
note 26, at 59. Although numerous scholars claim that the rule of
foreseeability in CISG Article 74 is derived from English common law, it has
been forcefully argued that it is instead derived from French law.
See Franco Ferrari, Comparative
Ruminations on the Foreseeability of Damages in Contract Law
, 53 LA. L. REV. 1257, 1263-69 (1993);
Detlef König, Voraussehbarkeit des Schadens als Grenze
vertraglicher Haftung, in
DAS HAAGER EINHEITLICHE KAUFGESETZ UND DAS DEUTSCHE SCHULDRECHT, KOLLOQUIM
ZUM 65, GEBURTSTAG VON ERNST VON CAEMMERER 74, 86-130 (Hans G.
Leser & W. Frhr Marschall von Bieberstein eds., 1973).
88. 1 ROBERT L. DUNN, RECOVERY OF DAMAGES FOR LOST
PROFITS 23 (4th ed. 1992).
89. See Kenford Co. v. County of Erie, 537 N.E.2d
176, 179 (N.Y. 1989) ("In determining the reasonable contemplation of the
parties, the nature, purpose and particular circumstances of the contract
should be considered . . . as well as `what liability the defendant
fairly may be supposed to have assumed consciously . . . .'")
(citation omitted).
90. See Keystone Diesel Engine Co. v. Irwin, 191
A.2d 376, 377 (Pa. 1963) (holding that contemplation exists where "buyer
has communicated to seller . . . sufficient facts to make it apparent
that damages . . . were within reasonable contemplation of the
parties").
91. Morrow v. First Nat'l Bank of Hot Springs, 550 S.W.2d 429, 430
(Ark. 1977);
see also Western Indus., Inc. v. Newcor Canada Ltd., 739 F.2d 1198
(7th Cir. 1984) (stating in dicta that consequential damages are not
recoverable unless specifically negotiated).
92. R.I. Lampus Co. v. Neville Cement Prods. Corp., 378 A.2d 288, 288 (Pa. 1977)
("[B]uyer was not required to establish . . . that seller
contemplated or tacitly agreed. . . .").
93. See FARNSWORTH,
supra note 31, at 914-15; U.C.C.
§ 2-715 cmt. 2 (1991) ("The `tacit
agreement' test for the recovery of consequential damages is rejected.");
RESTATEMENT (SECOND) CONTRACTS § 351 cmt.
a (1981) ("[T]he party in breach need not have made a `tacit agreement' to
be liable for the loss.").
94. RESTATEMENT (SECOND) OF CONTRACTS
§ 351(3) (1981).
95. See id.§ 351 cmt. f (1981)
("There are unusual instances in which it appears . . . [that]
it would be unjust to put the risk on that party."); see
alsoJOSEPH M. LOOKOFSKY, CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES IN
COMPARATIVE CONTEXT 189 (1989) (explaining a study which
revealed only three cases that cited § 351(3), the most relevant
being All Points Towing, Inc. v. City of Glendale, 735 P.2d 145 (Ariz. App.
1987)). Lookofsky expressed the fear of some that the discretionary justice
represented by § 351(3) goes too far, "posing a threat to
commercial certainty and even to classical contract law."
Id. at 291.
96. See U.C.C.
§ 2-715(2)(b) (1991) ("Consequential damages resulting from
a seller's breach include injury to person or property
proximately resulting from any breach of warranty.").
97. In the United States, foreseeability is not a limitation on liability
for tort damages. See RESTATEMENT (SECOND)
OF TORTS § 435(1) (1965) ("If the actor's
conduct is a substantial factor in bringing about harm to another, the fact
that the actor neither foresaw nor should have foreseen the extent of the harm
or the manner in which it occurred does not prevent him from being
liable.").
98. See CISG art. 75,
supra note 1, S. TREATY DOC. NO.
9 at 37, 19 I.L.M. at 689.
99. U.C.C. § 2-715(2)(a) (1991) (emphasis
added).
100. RESTATEMENT (SECOND) OF CONTRACTS
§ 351(1) (1981) ("Damages are not recoverable for loss that
the party in breach did not have reason to foresee as a probable result. . . .").
101. See CISG art. 74,
supra note 1, S. TREATY DOC. NO.
9 at 37, 19 I.L.M. at 688 (emphasis added).
102. See Farnsworth, supra
note 56, at 253. Although the Restatement of
Contracts and the CISG also apply to seller's
consequential damages, this Article only discusses a buyer's consequential
damages. This approach is taken both because the CISG cases are about buyer's
damages and because, in U.S. courts, seller's claims for loss of direct profits
from defaulting buyers have received very favorable treatment, raising no
important issues of foreseeability. In such cases, courts seem "to
presume foreseeability and certainty rules have been met." STEWART
MACAULAY ET AL., CONTRACTS: LAW IN ACTION 133 (1995).
Commentators argue that this result is appropriate because there is little
danger of damage awards disproportionate to the consideration defendant would
have gotten from performance since "[c]ontract price is the ceiling of
recovery, and the largest cost items to be deducted from that price are the
most susceptible to proof." Lost Profits,
supra note 34, at 1003 (citations omitted).
103. See FARNSWORTH,
supra note 31, at 916 ("One takes the risk
of those [consequences] that one ought reasonably to have
foreseen."). This is unlike the test in tort law, which rejects the
foreseeability limit on damages. Instead, if the defendant's conduct threatens
any interest of the plaintiff, defendant is liable
for any resultant injury to plaintiff unless that injury is extremely bizarre.
See RESTATEMENT (SECOND) OF TORTS
§ 435 (1965).
104. U.C.C. § 2-715(2)(a) (1991) (emphasis
added).
105. RESTATEMENT (SECOND) OF CONTRACTS
§ 351(1) (1981) (emphasis added).
106. See CISG art. 74, supra note 1, S. TREATY DOC. NO. 9 at
37, 19 I.L.M. at 688.
107. See WHITE & SUMMERS
, supra note 44, at 514-18; Sutton,
supra note 19, at 744 (stating that a party
"may want to make . . . dangers known to the other contracting
party in order to implicate the subjective prong . . . Such notice,
however, would also create objective foreseeability today under the [U.C.C.]
and the Restatement, thus minimizing the
differences between article 74 and American view of foreseeability.").
108. See DUNN, supra note 88, at 36-43.
109. See supra note 50.
110. See FARNSWORTH,
supra note 31, at 918 ("Problems of
foreseeability do not usually arise unless the injured party who is a buyer
cannot cover . . . .").
111. See id. at 919-20. Because most goods are
readily available in a competitive market, the inability to cover is not
foreseeable in the ordinary course of events. See id.
at 878-79. See also
RESTATEMENT (SECOND) OF CONTRACTS
§ 351(2)(a) (1981) ("Loss may be foreseeable as a probable
result of a breach because it follows from the breach . . . in the
ordinary course of events . . . .").
112. See U.C.C.
§ 2-715 cmt. 6 (1991) (noting that damages resulting from loss
of resale profits are included under consequential damages). Seller is not
liable for extraordinary lost profit or losses from unusual terms of
buyer's resale contracts or "other circumstances of which seller is
ignorant." FARNSWORTH, supra
note 31, at 919.
113. See FARNSWORTH,
supra note 31, at 920 n.33 (citing Verhagen v.
Platt, 61 A.2d 892 (N.J. Super. Ct. 1948)).
114. See id. at 921.
115. "Damages are not recoverable for loss beyond an amount that the
evidence permits to be established with reasonable certainty."
RESTATEMENT (SECOND) OF CONTRACTS § 352
(1981).
116. Delchi, 1994 WL 495787, at *6 (footnotes
added).
117. See LOOKOFSKY,
supra note 95, at 181-87.
118. Id. at 283 n.158.
119. Commentators have noted:
WHITE & SUMMERS, supra note 44, at 451.
120. See RESTATEMENT (SECOND) OF CONTRACTS
§ 352 (1981); U.C.C.
§ 1-106 cmt. 1 (1991) (stating that damages "have to be
proved with whatever definiteness and accuracy the facts permit, but no
more"); U.C.C. § 2-715 cmt. 4 (1991)
("The burden of proving . . . consequential damages is on the
buyer, but the section on liberal administration of remedies rejects any
doctrine of certainty which requires almost mathematical precision in the
proof of
loss. Loss may be determined in any manner which is reasonable under the
circumstances."); see also WHITE & SUMMERS, supra
note 44, at 269 ("The 'fact-amount' doctrine, however, relaxes the burden
of
proof on the amount of loss once the buyer has proven the fact of a loss .
. . .").
121. CHARLES T. MCCORMICK, LAW OF DAMAGES 105 (1935).
122. L.L. Fuller & William R. Purdue, Jr., The Reliance Interest in
Contract Damages, 46 YALE L.J. 373,
376 (1937). It has been forcefully argued that the foreseeability rule should
be abandoned because it permits only all-or-nothing recovery and does not
necessarily prevent disproportionate damages. See
Lost Profits, supra
note 34, at 1021-22. This is because what courts often determine to be
foreseeable was not in fact foreseen or foreseeable since the test is based on
a "fiction." Id. One commentator
argues:
Id.
123. See Roy Ryden Anderson, Incidental and
Consequential Damages, 7 J.L. & COM.
327, 399-423 (1987); see also
RESTATEMENT (SECOND) OF CONTRACTS § 352
cmt. b (1981) ("The difficulty of proving lost profits varies greatly with
the nature of the transaction.").
124. Courts have commonly awarded lost profits in this category, including lost
resale profits on goods purchased for inventory. Older U.S. cases required
that the defendant seller had to have had notice at the time of contract
formation
of buyer's particular resale transaction. Recent cases have allowed that
"knowledge that the buyer was a merchant or that the buyer was ordering
quantities too large for its own use" is sufficient for foreseeability
of
lost resale profits. MACAULAY ET AL., supra note 102, at 133-34;
see also Lost Profits, supra note 34, at 1009-10.
125. In cases involving manufacturer-buyer's claims of profits lost because a
seller default delayed or prevented the manufacture and sale of their final
product, U.S. courts are reluctant to find that the lost profits were
foreseeable or reasonably certain. This type of case holds the greatest
possibility of disproportionate damages. See
MACAULAY ET AL., supra note
102, at 134.
126. See Consolidated Data Terminals v. Applied
Digital Data Sys., Inc., 708 F.2d 385 (9th Cir. 1983) (holding that a
distributor of computer terminals can recover for loss of customer goodwill
resulting from sale of faulty terminals furnished by manufacturer); Roundhouse
v. Owens-Illinois, Inc., 604 F.2d 990 (6th Cir. 1979) (stating that although in
some cases Ohio would allow a jury to consider loss of goodwill in a breach of
warranty case, where plaintiffs are unable to show lost profits or attach any
kind of goodwill value to it, such damages must be denied as purely
speculative); R.E.B., Inc. v. Ralston Purina Co., 525 F.2d 749 (10th Cir. 1975)
(finding that a hog breeder furnished with defective feed can recover for
resulting damage to reputation); Texsun Feed Yards, Inc. v. Ralston Purina Co.,
447 F.2d 660 (5th Cir. 1971) (holding that an owner of feed lot can recover for
loss of customers in connection with use of defective feed supplement provided
by feed company); Isenberg v. Lemon, 327 P.2d 1016 (Ariz. 1958) (stating that
paint dealer can recover damages from manufacturer for loss of profits and
goodwill where paint manufacturer provides dealer an unfit and inferior product
for resale); Adams v. J.I. Case Co., 261 N.E.2d 1 (Ill. App. Ct. 1970)
(explaining that a plaintiff's complaint for damages for loss of business
should not have been dismissed); Delano Growers' Coop. Winery v. Supreme Wine
Co., 473 N.E.2d 1066 (Mass. 1985) (commenting that a distributor of wine can
recover for loss of goodwill when wine purchased was spoiled by mold);
Hydraform Prod. Corp. v. American Steel & Aluminum Corp., 498 A.2d 339
(N.H. 1985) (finding that a manufacturer of wood stoves can only recover from
steel manufacturer for loss of profits on sales which steel manufacturer should
have foreseen under the terms of the contract and buyer cannot recover for
diminished value of business because it is too speculative); Robert T.
Donaldson, Inc. v. Aggregate Surfacing Corp. of Am., 47 A.D.2d 852, 366
N.Y.S.2d 194 (N.Y. App. Div. 1975), appeal dismissed
, 337 N.E.2d 612 (N.Y. 1975)
(noting that plaintiff, a surfacing company, is entitled to recover
for
loss of profits due to damage to its reputation sustained by a breach, but
only
to the extent that such damages are not speculative); Sol-o-lite Laminating
Corp. v. Allen, 353 P.2d 843 (Or. 1960) (stating that because damage to
goodwill does not require exact proof, plaintiff presented adequate evidence
about the loss of goodwill to the jury by showing loss of business and
refusal
of customers to conduct subsequent business with plaintiff).
127. See H.L.A. HART & TONY HONORE,
CAUSATION IN THE LAW 312 (2d ed. 1985). One empirical study
found that of approximately 200 cases decided between 1946 and 1955,
buyer-middleman recovery was allowed in 75% of category one cases, but only in
50% of the buyer-manufacturer category two cases. See
Lost Profits, supra
note 34, at 1016 n.137.
128. See, e.g., Lewis v. Mobil Oil Corp., 438 F.2d
500, 510 (8th Cir. 1971) ("Where a seller provides goods to a
manufacturing enterprise with knowledge that they are to be used in the
manufacturing process, it is reasonable to assume that he should know that
defective goods will cause a disruption of production, and loss of profits is a
natural consequence of such disruption.").
129. See National Controls Corp. v. National
Semiconductor Corp., 833 F.2d 491 (3d Cir. 1987) (disallowing damages due to
plaintiff's failure to prove defendant's breach was the "proximate cause
of [plaintiff's] loss of profits"); General Supply & Equip. Co. v.
Phillips, 490 S.W.2d 913 (Tex. Civ. App. 1972) (finding that plaintiff failed
to prove with a "reasonable degree of certainty" that his loss of
profits was due to defendant's breach).
130. See, e.g., Gurney Indus. v. St. Paul Fire
& Marine Ins. Co., 467 F.2d 588 (4th Cir. 1972) (finding that "the
effect of contractor's breach . . . upon owner's profits was too
remote to warrant recovery of loss of anticipated profits");
Lewis, 438 F.2d at 511 (allowing recovery for lost
profits where a "reasonable approximation" of amount lost could be
calculated based on business record of past profit); Burrus v. Itek Corp., 360
N.E.2d 1168 (Ill. App. Ct. 1977) (allowing recovery of lost profits based upon
testimony of previous productivity).
131. See, e.g., Cates v. Morgan Portable Bldg.
Corp., 591 F.2d 17 (7th Cir. 1979) (allowing evidence of profit records from
similar motel businesses into calculation of plaintiff's lost profits).
132. See RESTATEMENT (SECOND) OF CONTRACTS
§ 352 cmt. b (1981) ("However, if the
business is a new one or if it is a speculative one that is subject to great
fluctuations in volume, costs or process, proof will be more difficult.
Nevertheless, damages may be established with reasonable certainty with the aid
of expert testimony, economic and financial data, market surveys and analyses,
business records of similar enterprises, and the like."); see
also Frank L. Williamson, Comment, Remedies --
Lost Profits as Contract Damages for an Unestablished Business: The New
Business Rule Becomes Outdated, 56 N.C. L. REV.
693, 734 (1978) (urging the replacement of the new business rule
with "a less intractable test" which "takes into account
developing commercial and economic realities"); Eric J. Wittenberg,
Comment, The State of Lost Profits Damages and Punitive Damages for
Breach of Contract in Pennsylvania, 6 J.L. &
COM. 531, 543 (1986) (explaining that while Pennsylvania has
eased the restrictions of the new business rule, "certainty still remains
the standard under Pennsylvania law").
133. But see WHITE & SUMMERS
, supra note 44, at 269 ("Claims
for lost goodwill have generated a split of authority. We think goodwill
losses should be recoverable, on proper proof, and provided there is no double
recovery."); see also Anderson,
supra note 123, at 420 ("As mercantile
practice has moved
toward defining parameters of meaning and recognizing methods for
calculation
of goodwill by economists and accountants, goodwill has become more widely
accepted as a recoverable item of consequential loss.").
134. See National Controls Corp. v. National
Semiconductor Corp., 833 F.2d 491 (3d Cir. 1987) (describing proximate cause
and speculative damages case); Dacor Corp. v. Sierra Precision, 753 F. Supp.
731, 733 (N.D. Ill. 1991) (Speculative-Manufacturer of scuba diving equipment
could not assert claim for loss of potential customers against supplier of
defective regulator hoses in action for breach of implied warranty of
merchantability since such damages are speculative and are "unrecoverable
in breach of contract" under Illinois law); Manuel Int'l, Inc. v. M.R.
Berlin Co., 525 F. Supp. 90 (N.D. Ill. 1981) (stating as dicta that in a
speculative contract claim within a federal anti-trust claim under Pennsylvania
law (which did not apply to federal anti-trust action), damages to business
reputation and loss of potential customers are speculative); Eastern Dental
Corp. v. Isaac Masel Co., 502 F. Supp. 1354 (E.D. Pa. 1980) (disallowing
damages for loss of goodwill in any action based on breach of contract);
Hydraform Prods. Corp. v. American Steel & Aluminum Corp., 498 A.2d 339
(N.H. 1985) (Souter, J.) (stating that "[a]s a general rule
. . . goodwill may be recovered as an element of consequential
damages"); George H. Swatek, Inc. v. North Star Graphics, Inc., 587 A.2d
629, 631-32 (N.J. Super. Ct. App. Div. 1991) (explaining the issue of
foreseeability where the trial court properly excluded evidence of lost profits
and injury to goodwill and reputation as unforeseeable when date for delivery
of the goods was not certain).
135. In Neville Chem. Co. v. Union Carbide Corp., 422 F.2d 1205, 1225 (3d Cir.
1970), the court made the "legal conclusion" that "plaintiff may
not recover for loss of profits to a business because of customer
dissatisfaction or loss of good will." Id.
The Neville court distinguished this sort of loss
of profits from "loss of profits . . . on the particular sale or
contract for the performance of which the goods in question were
purchased." Id. at 1225-26. In an earlier
opinion applying the tacit agreement test, Armstrong Rubber Co. v. Griffith, 43
F.2d 689, 691 (2d Cir. 1930), Judge Augustus N. Hand declared that "[w]e
can hardly doubt that such an uncertain and perilous risk as indemnification
against loss . . . of customers was never contemplated by the
plaintiff in this case. Nothing was said about it in the negotiations between
the parties, and it seems quite unlikely that it ever
should have been intended." Courts not applying the tacit agreement
test
have also held as a matter of law that loss of customers is not reasonably
foreseeable. See Chrysler Corp. v. E. Shavitz & Sons, 536 F.2d
743, 744-45 (7th Cir. 1976) (finding that a seller was not liable for
damages
for breach of a contract for the sale of air conditioning equipment which
resulted in a buyer losing customers because seller and buyer were not in a
fixed contract covering a definite time period, "seller had no reason
to
know of any subsequent job opportunities [buyer] might have with
customers" and no job opportunities with such customers were pending at
the time buyer severed the relationship). The Chrysler court,
however,
would have allowed loss of profit on contracts in existence or those,
"in
the offing," at the time of the contract.
136. Delchi, 1994 WL 495787, at *6. The court of
appeals' opinion does not state that the district court would not allow
evidence on the number of indicated orders. In affirming the district court's
ruling on this issue, the Second Circuit held that finding such testimony to be
speculative was not clearly erroneous. See Delchi
Carrier, SpA v. Rotorex Corp., Nos. 95-7182, 95-7186, slip op. at 5 (2d Cir.
Dec. 6, 1995).
137. Outside of Pennsylvania, "a majority of the cases have allowed for the
recovery of lost goodwill in proper circumstances." Anderson,
supra note 123, at 421 (footnote omitted).
But see Robert P. Barbarowicz, Comment,
Loss of Goodwill and Business Reputation as Recoverable Elements of
Damages Under Uniform Commercial Code § 2-715 -- the
Pennsylvania Experience, 75 DICK. L. REV.
63, 63 (1970) (highlighting the Pennsylvania Supreme Court's
refusal "to permit recovery for loss of goodwill").
138. See Barbarowicz, supra
note 137, at 74-75.
139. In 1977, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court overruled the "tacit agreement
test" and replaced it with a "had reason to know" test. This
new standard requires that "[i]f a seller knows of a buyer's general
or particular requirements and needs, that seller is liable for the resulting
consequential damages whether or not that seller
contemplated or agreed to such damages." P.I. Lampus Co. v. Neville
Cement Prods. Corp., 378 A.2d 288, 292 (Pa. 1977). Thus, a plaintiff need
only
prove that damages were reasonably foreseeable at the time of entering into
the
agreement.
140. AM/PM Franchise Ass'n v. Atlantic Richfield Co., 584 A.2d 915, 925-26
(Pa. 1990).
141. See id. at 926.
142. Delchi, 1994 WL 495787, at *7.
143. Id. See also
James J. Callaghan, U.N. Convention on Contracts for the International
Sale of Goods: Examining the Gap Filling Role of CISG in Two French
Decisions, 14 J.L. & COM. 183,
198 (1995) (noting that the proper interest rate is generally determined
according to the law applicable to the contract as a whole). Arbitrators have
used conflicts rules to determine the rate of interest rather than the rule of
the forum. Callaghan suggests that arbitrators should use a rate which
indemnifies against the harm caused by the delay rather than the law of any
particular state. Id.
144. The United States Code
states:
28 U.S.C. § 1961(a) (1988).
145. Delchi, 1994 WL 495787, at *7.
146. Article 58 of the 1976 UNCITRAL Working Group's Draft Convention, which
authorized interest only for sellers, was not included in the 1977 and 1978
drafts. See Sutton, supra
note 19, at 749.
147. See id.
148. CISG art. 78, supra
note 1, S. TREATY DOC. NO. 9 at 37, 19
I.L.M. at 689.
149. See Sutton, supra
note
19, at 749. The 1976 draft of the CISG would not have allowed a buyer
pre-judgment interest on unliquidated damages.
150. In re Waterside Ocean Navigation Co., 737 F.2d
150, 153 (2d Cir. 1984) (quoting Lodges 743 & 1746, International Ass'n of
Mach. v. United Aircraft Corp., 534 F.2d 422, 446 (2d Cir. 1975), cert.
denied, 449 U.S. 825 (1976)).
151. See id. at 154.
152. CISG art. 7(2), supra
note 1, S. TREATY DOC. NO. 9 at 23-24, 19 I.L.M. at
673.
153. See Sutton, supra
note 19, at 750 ("If courts interpret article 78 in the context of their own
legal traditions, then interest could conceivably be awarded under the
Convention for liquidated as well as unliquidated damages, or for damages based
on current price and substitute transactions.").
154. See Klaxon Co. v. Stentor Co., 313 U.S. 487,
494 (1941).
155. In Erie R. Co. v. Tompkins, 304 U.S. 64 (1938), the Supreme Court determined
that there is no federal general common law. Since then, federal courts have
developed a federal common law in certain limited fields, including the area of
foreign relations. For example, in Banco Nacional de Cuba v. Sabbatino, 376
U.S. 398 (1964), the issue was whether the "act of state" doctrine
was governed by state or solely by federal law, which would be binding on state
courts. The Court, in holding that federal decisional law controlled, stated
that it "seems fair to assume that the Court did not have rules like the
act of state doctrine in mind when it decided Erie R. Co. v.
Tompkins." Id. at 425;
see also ALAN C. SWAN & JOHN F. MURPHY
, CASES AND MATERIALS ON THE REGULATION OF INTERNATIONAL
BUSINESS AND ECONOMIC RELATIONS 1139 (1991) (stating that
Banco Nacionale de Cuba "is most often cited
in favor of a federal common law of foreign relations").
156. See Joseph A. Zirkman, New York's
Choice of Law Quagmire Revisited, 51 BROOK. L. REV.
579, 586 (1985) (highlighting a New York case in which the
choice of law was determined by which jurisdiction had "greater interest
in deciding the particular litigated issue"); see also
Associated Metals & Minerals Corp. v. Sharon Steel Corp.,
590 F. Supp. 18 (S.D.N.Y. 1983) (enforcing a contractual choice of Pennsylvania
law where Pennsylvania had a "reasonable relationship" to the subject
of the contract dispute).
157. In O'Rourke v. Eastern Air Lines, Inc., 730 F.2d 842 (2d Cir. 1984), the
court held that calculation of pre-judgment
interest in a wrongful death action under a New York statute is considered a
substantive issue, but the issue of whether to award
such interest depended on whether pre-judgment interest was
consistent with the goals of the Warsaw Convention and the Montreal Agreement.
In O'Rourke, the Second Circuit found the award of
pre-judgment interest was not consistent with those international agreements,
but the Fifth Circuit in Domangue v. Eastern Air Lines, Inc., 722 F.2d 256 (5th
Cir. 1984), found that pre-judgment interest was consistent with the Convention
and was a valid exercise of the court's discretion.
158. According to the New York Code: N.Y. CIV. PRAC. L. & R. 5001 (McKinney 1992 &
Supp. 1995). Pennsylvania has developed a similar rule in its courts.
See United States v. Bethlehem Steel Corp., 113 F.2d 301, 308 (3d Cir.
1940) ("Likewise it is well settled in Pennsylvania that in an action to
recover unascertained damages for a breach of contract the allowance of
interest prior to judgment is discretionary."). One scholar found that
courts consider the following laws applicable for the determination of the
interest rate:
HANS VAN HOUTTE, THE LAW OF INTERNATIONAL TRADE 147 n.25 (1995).
See also Interpretive Decisions Applying CISG, Journal of Law
&
Commerce Case I: Oberlandesgericht, Frankfurt Am Main, 14 J.L. &
COM.
201, 202 (1995) ("Pursuant to German international private law, to
determine the interest rate under CISG Article 78, the court must refer to
national law."). Legal scholars and courts in Germany have concluded
that
the conflict of law rules of the forum should determine which law will
govern
the awarding of interest under the CISG. See Peter Schlechtriem,
Anmerkung, in SCHIEDSSPRÜCHE ZU STREITIGKEITEN AUS
INTERNATIONALEN KAUFVERTRÄGEN: ANWENDBARKEIT DES CISG 590, 592-94
(1995).
159. See Judgment of Oct. 24, 1980,
BGH [Supreme Court], 1981 IPRAX 96-98; MICHAEL R.
WILL, CISG -- INTERNATIONAL BIBLIOGRAPHY 1980-1995 (4th
ed. 1995).
160. See Judgment of Oct. 24, 1980, 1981 IPRAX
at 97.
161. The contract was for 28-day-old Gouda Cheese at 5.59 DM/kg. See
id.
162. Seller claimed buyer owed 466,732.28 DM including interest.
See id.
163. Buyer claimed Seller discounted the price to 5.50 DM/kg.
Thus, the contract price was 12,244.50 DM less than Seller claims. See
id.
164. The defective cheese lacked ripeness, had softened, and had
salt deposits under their rinds. See id.
165. See id.
166. See id.
167. The trial court in Germany is known as Landgericht.
168. The trial court declared that Buyer owed Seller 453,812.28 DM plus interest.
The intermediate court, in affirming the trial court, found that the contract
price of the cheese was 5.59 DM/kg and that three percent of the delivered
cheese was defective. Additionally, the court found that Buyer complained to
Seller of the defective cheese in a timely manner each time a customer demanded
damages. See Judgment of Oct. 24, 1980, 1981
IPRAX at 97.
169. The intermediate court of appeals in Germany is known as
Oberlandesgericht.
170. See Judgment of Oct. 24, 1980, 1981 IPRAX
at 97.
171. See id.
172. The German courts in this case applied Article 82 of the
Unified Law of the International Sale of Movable Things as the controlling law
of this contract for the sale of cheese between a German and Dutch merchant.
This law is one of two German laws derived from the 1964 Hague Conventions on
the Sale of Goods which were adopted in Germany on July 17, 1973. Article 82
of the Hague convention became part of German law as the "Einheitliches
Gesetz über den Internationalen Kauf beweglicher Sachen," or
"EKG." It is but one of five different sets of laws which German
courts continue to apply to international sales contracts formed prior to
January 1, 1991.
The second body of law derived from the
1964
Hague Conventions is the Unified Law of the Formation of International
Contracts for Movable Things, known as the "Einheitliches Gesetz
über
den Abschluss von Internationalen Kaufvertragen über begwegliche
Sachen" or "EAG." This body of law has been applied by
German
courts to contract disputes when the parties have branch offices in
different
contracting states and the contract in question involves a cross-border
sale.
If a German court found that the EKG or the EAG did not apply to an
international sales contract, it would use German conflict of law rules
under
Articles 27 and 28 of the Introductory Law to the German Civil Code
("BGB") to determine which law controlled the contract. These
conflict of law rules could result in two other bodies of law controlling
the
contract. First, if the German court decided that German municipal law
controlled, the court would look to the BGB and the German Commercial Code
("HGB"). However, if the German court decided that the law of a
foreign country applied, it would apply the national law of that country.
Of
course, if that foreign country were a signatory to an international
convention
on the international sale of goods, such as the Hague Conventions or the
CISG,
then that convention as applied by the signatory country would control the
contract in the German court. See Gerhard Manz & Susan
Padman-Reich, Germany Standardises Law on International Sale of
Goods,
INT'L FIN. L. REV., Oct. 1990, at 14 (detailing the adoption of the CISG in
Germany).
173. The complex formula governing the applicability of law as discussed in the
previous note was changed when the CISG came into force in Germany on January
1, 1991. Because the CISG was self-executing, it automatically repealed the
confusing array of law governing all contracts for the international sale of
goods formed after January 1, 1991. Although the EKG and the EAG do not apply
to contracts formed after 1990, the decisions of the German courts interpreting
them are instructive as to the probable application of the CISG. These
pre-CISG cases are particularly instructive because Germany has adopted the
complete text of the CISG, which is quite similar to the EKG and the EAG.
Indeed, some of the problems the German courts encountered with the Hague
Conventions may continue under the German adoption of the CISG. As discussed
supra note 172, Germany accepted some major
changes to its traditional law of obligations in adopting the Hague conventions
and the CISG. See Manz & Padman-Reich,
supra note 172, at 14.
174. See KRITZER,
supra note 3, at 477 ("Because these ULIS
articles are so similar [EKG Article 82 and CISG Article 74], [A]rticle 82
precedents may be regarded as relevant to interpretations of CISG [A]rticle
74.").
175. See Judgment of Oct. 24, 1980, 1981 IPRAX
at 97.
176. See id.
177. The survey focused on the German-Dutch Trade Association
and the Industrial and Trade Association of Düsseldorf. See
id. at 98.
178. See id.
179. The German Supreme Court is known as Bundesgerichtshof.
180. See Judgment of Oct. 24, 1980, 1981 IPRAX
at 97.
181. Id. at 97. Under German laws based on the
Hague Conventions (EKG and EAG), the parties to the contract were allowed to
choose which law controlled their contract, thereby avoiding application of the
EKG or the EAG. In the cheese case, the German Supreme Court noted that the
parties did not affirmatively choose the EKG as the controlling law of their
contract. However, because the parties did not impliedly or expressly make a
choice of law decision, the EKG would apply, specifically Article 3 of the EKG.
After the cheese case, in 1986, the German Supreme Court went even further in
applying Article 3 of the EKG when deciding that a German court, in hearing a
dispute between United Kingdom and German partners, should apply the EKG even
if the contract expressly provides that the German municipal law should apply.
Although this 1986 decision allowed the contracting parties to exclude, either
expressly or impliedly, the EKG under Article 3, the decision clarified that an
implied exclusion will not readily be found. The fact that the parties did not
mention the EKG in the contract was not held as an exclusion, presumably on the
ground that the EKG was also a part of German municipal law. To be certain
that the EKG will not apply to an international sales contract, the parties
must expressly exclude the EKG. The German Supreme Court's affirmative
exclusion was an interesting development because the United Kingdom, in
adopting the Hague Conventions as its Uniform Law for the International Sales
of Goods Act in 1967, provided in § 1(3) that the Uniform Law
would control a contract of sale only if it was affirmatively selected by the
contract parties. In almost twenty years, no case arose in the UK where the
Uniform Law governed a contract. See F.A. Mann
& Herbert Smith, International Briefings: West Germany; When
Uniform Sales Law Applies, INT'L FIN. L. REV.
, June 1986, at 37.
182. See Judgment of Oct. 24, 1980, 1981 IPRAX
at 98.
183. See id.
184. See id.
185. See id. at 97.
186. See id.
187. Id.
188. See id. at 97-98.
189. See id. at 98.
190. See id. (citing Judgment of Dec. 1, 1965, 1966
NJW 502).
191. See id.
192. See id.
193. See id.
194. The German Supreme Court based its determination on the
finding that lost profits were unforeseeable as informed by a written inquiry
to the trade associations regarding the state of mind of merchants in the field
on April 4, 1978. The survey inquired as to whether a Dutch importer in
January 1977, who delivers cheese to a German importer, should have foreseen
that customers of the German importer would discontinue business if three
percent of the goods delivered by the Dutch importer were defective, as was the
cheese in this case. Based on this survey, the court of appeals found the
damages claimed by Buyer were unforeseeable. See id.
195. See id.
196. Most importantly, the court of appeals failed to disclose
the survey questions. It was not clear to the German Supreme Court whether the
court of appeals' survey asked about the foreseeability of the buyer's
customers discontinuing business or about the foreseeable behavior of the
customer's customers discontinuing business as a result of the defects.
See id.
197. See id.
198. A "berufung" is an appeal on points of fact and
law. See DANNEMANN,
supra note 27, at 111-13; David S. Clark,
The Selection and Accountability of Judges in West Germany:
Implementation of a Rechtsstaat, 61 S. CAL. L. REV.
1795, 1808-14 (1988).
199. See Judgment of Oct. 24, 1980, 1981 IPRAX
at 98. "Revision" is an appeal on points of law.
See DANNEMANN,
supra note 27, at 111. In the cheese case, the
German Supreme Court cited a prior decision in which the BGH discussed the
difference between unreviewable factual findings of trade usage and
unsubstantiated official declarations which are subject to review.
See Judgment of Dec. 1, 1965, 19 NEUE
JURISTICHE WOCHENSCHEIFT [sic] [NJW] 502, 503. Although not
referred to by the Court, the German Code of Civil Procedure
§ 139(1) states "[t]he presiding judge shall ensure that
the parties completely disclose all relevant facts and make the pertinent
motions, and especially also supplement insufficient particulars concerning
asserted facts and describe the evidence .
. . ." ZIVILPROZEßORDNUNG [ZPO]
§ 139, translated in THE CODE OF CIVIL PROCEDURE RULES OF
THE REPUBLIC OF GERMANY OF JANUARY 30, 1877 AND THE INTRODUCTORY ACT FOR THE
CODE OF CIVIL PROCEDURE RULES OF JANUARY 30, 1877 37 (Simon L. Goren trans.,
1990); see also Hein Kötz, Civil Litigation and the Public
Interest, 1 CIV. JUST. Q. 237, 242 (1982) ("[A] judge's failure to
discharge his duties under section 139 constitutes a procedural
error.").
200. "The drafters of the German Civil Code approached the general problem
of the relief available to an aggrieved party from three different
perspectives: (1) a distinction between one-sided and two-sided contracts; (2)
separate treatment of cases of delay (Verzug) and of impossibility; and (3)
individualized handling of, and special rules for, various typical contractual
regimes (e.g., sale, contract to make an object (Werkvertrag), contract to
furnish services, (Dienstvertrag)). This approach results in an intricate and
complex system which renders generalization difficult." ARTHUR T.
VON MEHREN & JAMES R. GORDLEY, THE CIVIL LAW SYSTEM 1108
(2d ed. 1977) (footnotes omitted).
201. Id. at 1109 n.27 (citing ERWIN DITTMAR
, Das Problem der Schadenersatzleistung
218 (1946)).
202. The BGB classifies breach as being of two possible types: delay in
performance, "Verzug," or impossibility,
"Unmöglichkeit." After the enactment of the BGB in 1902, the
courts developed a concept of positive breach, "positive
Vertragsverletzung," for defective performance. See
NORBERT HORN ET AL., GERMAN PRIVATE
AND COMMERCIAL LAW: AN INTRODUCTION 105 (1982). The discovery
of the necessity for positive breach occurred in 1904; see
E.J. COHN, MANUAL OF GERMAN LAW 117 (2d
ed. 1968). But cf. Eyal Zamir, Toward a
General Concept of Conformity in the Performance of Contracts
, 52 LA. L. REV. 1, 9 n.12 (1991) (standing
alone in dating the development of the doctrine to the 1920s). The most likely
date is 1902, with the delivery of an influential paper by Staub on a German
Juristentag. See infra
note 209 and accompanying text.
203. See BÜRGERLICHES GESETZBUCH [BGB]
§ 459.
204. See HORN ET AL.,
supra note 202, at 125-26.
206. See HORN ET AL.,
supra note 202, at 127-28. Whether a warranty will
be implied may depend on the type of trade involved. German courts may readily
find implied warranties when used car dealers state that a car is road-worthy
or overhauled. Id.
207. See COHN
, supra note 202, at 134.
208. See BGB
§ 480.
209. See HORN ET AL.,
supra note 202, at 126.
210. See COHN,
supra note 202, at 133; HORN ET AL.
, supra note 202, at 112-14.
211. See VON MEHREN & GORDLEY
, supra note , at 1114 n.49 (arguing
also that certainty is a greater burden of proof in U.S. law than the normal
burden of a preponderance of the evidence).
212. See Judgment of Oct. 24, 1980, 1981 IPRAX
at 97.
213. BGB § 252.
214. See id. § 252.
215. See GUENTER H. TREITEL,
REMEDIES FOR BREACH OF CONTRACT 164 (1988).
216. Id. at 107.
217. See BGB
§ § 241-304.
218. See id. § 254(2).
219. See id. § 254(1). BGB
§ § 251 and 254(2) provide that if the buyer knows of
the potential of high damages, he must warn the seller or have his damages
reduced on the basis of comparative fault. BGB § 242, which
requires good faith, has been cited as precluding disproportionate damages, but
this argument has been disputed. See infra note
233. The "expectation ceiling" concept is traced to German law.
See LOOKOFSKY,
supra note 95, at 183-87.
220. See TREITEL,
supra note 215, at 164 (stating that the legislative
history of the BGB shows a deliberate rejection of the foreseeability test).
221. See VON MEHREN & GORDLEY
, supra note 200, at 1115 n.53 (citing
II/1 PLANCK (-STROHAL), KOMMENTAR ZUM
BÜRGERLICHEN GESETZBUCH 252 (4th ed. 1914)).
222. Id. at 1115 n.57 (citing Judgment of Feb. 15,
1913, in 81 ENTSCHEIDUNGEN DES
REICHSGERICHTS, ZIVILSACHEN [RGZ]
359).
223. See Peter Schlechtriem,
Voraussehbarkeit und Schutzzweck einer verletzen Pflicht als Kriterium
der Eingrenzung des ersatzfähigen schadens im deutschen Recht
, in LAW IN EAST AND WEST
505, 512 (Institute of Comparative Law ed., 1988).
224. See id. at 514-15.
225. See id. at 514 (noting that the EKG
foreseeability limitation influenced the development of German case law for
domestic sales).
226. See Judgment of Oct. 24, 1980, 1981 IPRAX
at 97.
227. LUDWIG ENNECCERUS & HEINRICH LEHMAN, RECHT
DER SCHULDVERHAELTNISSE 73 (15th ed. 1958).
228. Id.
229. See Schlechtriem,
supra note 223, at 507-08.
230. TREITEL, supra note 215, at
163.
231. Id. at 163.
232. Id.
233. See Judgment of Oct. 24, 1980,
1981 IPRAX at 97.
234. Id. at 97.
235. See id.
236. Id. at 97-98.
237. HANS DÖLLE, KOMMENTAR ZUM EINHEITLICHEN KAUFRECHT
63 (1976).
238. See TREITEL,
supra note 215, at 164-65 (arguing that there is
"a considerable degree of similarity between the two theories).
239. Id. at 164 (citations omitted).
240. Hadley v. Baxendale, 156 Eng. Rep. 145, 151 (1854).
241. Id. (stating the loss as one "reasonably
. . . supposed to have been in the contemplation of both parties, at
the time they made the contract").
242. See TREITEL,
supra note 215, at 164-65.
243. See id.
244. See id. at 165. The example
given is a contract to sell a house to a purchaser who could have made an
unusually high profit out of a resale of the house. It is argued that under
the Anglo-American foreseeability test, the buyer could not collect for more
than ordinary lost profit, while in Germany, "so long as the `kind' of
loss suffered satisfies the `adequate causation' test the defendant is liable
to the full `extent' of the loss." Id. This
state of affairs has led to reform movements in Germany to limit damages.
See id. at 166. One suggestion, that BGB
§ 242 requiring good faith be used to limit damages, has been
criticized as being too uncertain. See id. The
criticism that German law does not recognize a principle requiring liability to
be proportionate to the degree of fault led to a proposal for an amendment of
the BGB that would make the degree of fault a relevant factor for reducing
damages, which otherwise would be exceptionally high. An additional factor in
German law that favors plaintiffs is that the expected consequences of a breach
are determined at the time of the breach rather than at the time of formation.
See id.
245. Judgment of Oct. 24, 1980, 1981 IPRAX
at 97.
246. See König, supra
note 87, at 130.
247. See Schlechtriem, supra
note 223, at 514-15.
248. See supra notes
177-78 and accompanying text.
249. See supra note 190.
250. See NIGEL FOSTER, GERMAN LAW & LEGAL SYSTEM 156 (1993);
supra note 198 and accompanying text.
251. See generally Note,
Public Opinion Surveys as Evidence: The Pollsters Go to Court
, 66 HARV. L. REV. 498, 501-06 (1953)
(identifying the hearsay rule and probative value as two major evidentiary
problems surrounding the use of public opinion surveys in a court of law)
[hereinafter Public Opinion]. In the United
States, this type of polling evidence has been admitted in intellectual
property cases to determine the similarity of products. See,
e.g., Tomy Corp. v. P.G. Continental, Inc., 534 F. Supp.
595 (S.D.N.Y. 1982) (allowing survey which showed confusion between similar
products admitted in unfair competition case); Miles Labs, Inc. v. Frolich, 195
F. Supp. 256 (S.D. Cal. 1961) (allowing a survey which demonstrated confusion
between trademark owner's name and that of an alleged infringer). The results
of surveys have also been admitted in support of motions for change of venue.
See, e.g., United States v. Tokars, 839 F. Supp.
1578 (N.D. Ga. 1993) (admitting a survey into evidence to show that a
substantial portion of potential jurors had already formed an opinion
regarding a
criminal defendant's guilt or innocence).
Although defendants in many cases, especially obscenity cases, often
try to
have surveys admitted to show that the materials at issue were not offensive
when judged by contemporary community standards, such polls are infrequently
admitted into evidence because it is difficult to fashion questions that
will
produce relevant responses. See, e.g., United States v. Pryba, 678
F. Supp. 1225 (E.D. Va. 1988) (excluding a public opinion poll because
questions were not designed to elicit information about whether there was
community acceptance of materials in question); State v. Cooley, 766 S.W.2d
133
(Mo. Ct. App. 1989) (excluding survey offered to show that other
neighborhood
stores sold similar materials and that defendant's publications therefore
did
not offend community standards).
In administrative hearings, however, where there are less formal rules
of
evidence, such polls often have been admitted into evidence. See,
e.g.,
Arrow Metal Prods. Corp. v. FTC, 249 F.2d 83 (3rd Cir. 1957) (upholding
FTC's
admission of survey offered to show whether a term was capable of deceiving
the
public).
252. Public Opinion, supra
note 251, at 507.
253. See id., supra note 251, at 507.
254. See Judgment of Oct. 24, 1980, 1981 IPRAX
at 98; supra note 196 and
accompanying text.
255. See Delchi, 1994 WL 495787, at *5. The
district court first cited JOHN HONNOLD, UNIFORM LAW FOR INTERNATIONAL
SALES § 415 (2d ed. 1991) for the proposition
that the "CISG permits recovery of lost profit resulting from a
diminished volume of sales." Delchi, at *6.
Second, the district court cited a Comment for the proposition that CISG
Article 74 "seeks to provide an injured party with the benefit of the
bargain."
Id. at *4 (citing Sutton, supra note 19, at 742-43).
256. For a recently published bibliography giving a detailed list of this
literature, see WILL, supra
note 159.
257. Kritzer, supra note 3, at 109.
258. CISG art. 7(1), supra
note 1, S. TREATY DOC. NO. 9 at 23, 19 I.L.M. at 673.
259. Commentary, art. 6, supra
note 26, at 17.
260. LOOKOFSKY, supra note 95,
at 283 n.158.
261. CISG art. 7(2), supra
note 1, S. TREATY DOC. NO. 9 at 23-24, 19 I.L.M. at
673.
262. Articles 27 and 28 of the Einführungsgesetz zum Bürgerliches
Gesetzbuch ("EGBGB") state that if no choice of law is indicated in
the contract, courts should apply the law to which the contract has the most
significant relationship. EGBGB art. 28(1). For another view, see
DANNEMANN, supra note 27, at
54 (stating that German scholars are debating whether issues left to domestic
law should be addressed by "applying the law that has the closest link
with the particular question, or whether one should assume a hypothetical
`proper law of the contract'").
263. See Codice Civile § 1225
(Italy).Nearly all cases cited . . . [in a study on the application of the foreseeability test] are decisions on
appeal
by defendant. Plaintiff often obtains satisfactory results at the trial,
but
loses all or part of his verdict when defendant appeals. Appellate courts
will
probably be inclined to sustain the trial court's judgment when the record
discloses its logical, as well as evidentiary, basis.
(1) Except as stated in Subsection (2),
damages are not recoverable for loss that the injured party could have
avoided
without undue risk, burden or humiliation.
Because the legal principle of certainty
[relating to damages for loss of goodwill] in the plaintiff's case is
indivisible from factual questions about the amount and probity of
plaintiff's
evidence, it is difficult to make sensible and useful generalizations about
that principle. Often cases cited under the certainty rubric could be as
easily explained by saying that the 'plaintiff merely failed to prove his
damages' or 'failed to prove his case.' So stated, the principle is reduced
to
a homily.
[L]oss of profits resulting from breach
is seldom foreseen by either plaintiff or defendant at contract time.
Moreover, when the parties actually do foresee the risk of loss, they
generally
allocate that risk . . . by a contractual provision for liquidated
damages . . . . But the foreseeability rule is not applied when
the
loss was in fact considered; the rule is invoked only when a court must
effect
an allocation for which the parties failed to provide . . . . As a
result, the foreseeability rule penalizes one party for omissions made by
both
at contract time.
Interest shall be
allowed on any money judgment in a civil case recovered in a district court.
Execution therefor may be levied by the marshal, in any case where, by the
law
of the State in which such court is held, execution may be levied for
interest
on judgments recovered in the courts of the State. Such interest shall be
calculated from the date of the entry of the judgment, at a rate equal to
the
coupon issue yield equivalent (as determined by the Secretary of the
Treasury)
of the average accepted auction price for the last auction of fifty-two week
United States Treasury bills settled immediately prior to the date of the
judgment. The Director of the Administrative Office of the United States
Courts
shall distribute notice of that rate and any changes in it to all Federal
judges.
Interest to verdict, report or
decision: (a) Actions in which recoverable. Interest shall be recovered
upon a sum awarded because of a breach of performance of a contract, or because
of an act or omission depriving or otherwise interfering with title to, or
possession or enjoyment of, property, except that in an action of an equitable
nature, interest and the rate and date from which it shall be computed shall be
in the court's discretion.
(1) law of place of
payment: ICC award no. 7153, 1992 J.D.I. 1005; (2) law of
creditor:
LG Stuttgart Sept. 5, 1989, 1990 IPRAX 317; LG Frankfurt Sept. 16, 1991,
1991
RIW 952; KG Berlin Jan. 24, 1994, 1994 RIW 683; OLG München Mar. 2,
1994,
1994 RIW 545: ICC award no. 7197, 1993 J.D.I. 1028; (3) law of place of
actual loss: LG Aachen Apr. 3, 1990, 1990 RIW 491; (4) proper law of
contract: AG Oldenburg Apr. 24, 1990, 1991 IPRAX 336; LG Hamburg Sept.
26,
1990, 1991 IPRAX 400; Belgian Cass., Nov. 29, 1990, 1990 RIW 1270; (5)
law
of debtor or creditor: OLG Frankfurt June 13, 1991, 1991 RIW 591; OLG
Frankfurt Apr. 20, 1994, 1994 RIW 593.