This chapter introduces expectation damages as the ordinary monetary remedy for breach and explains the formula used to value lost performance. The high stakes of Mount Doom sharpen the central remedial question: what would it take to place the injured party where full performance would have left them?
Doctrinal map
Expectation damages (R2d § 347) measure the value of the bargain: value as promised minus value received, plus incidental and consequential losses subject to the foreseeability filter (R2d § 351; Hadley v. Baxendale). The chapter teaches the standard market-based measures for sellers (UCC § 2-708; § 2-706) and buyers (UCC § 2-712 cover; § 2-713 market-price differential). The student leaves able to compute the expectation interest from a given fact pattern.
Key Sources
Key Rules
- R2d § 347: Expectation damages = loss in value + other loss − cost avoided − loss avoided
- Put the injured party in the position they would have occupied