Mount Doom to the Grey Havens — Making Middle-earth Whole
The quest ends. The Ring is destroyed. Now comes the reckoning: what does it mean to “make whole” a world that has been broken? Module VII teaches the remedies that the law provides when a contract is breached.
Expectation damages (Chapter 24) put the injured party in the position they would have occupied had the contract been performed. Defective performance damages (Chapter 25) address the special problem of a party who performs, but badly. Limitations on damages (Chapter 26) impose the doctrines of foreseeability, certainty, and mitigation. Alternative remedies (Chapter 27) include specific performance, restitution, and reliance damages. And third-party beneficiaries (Chapter 28) asks who, besides the contracting parties, can enforce a promise.
Module outcomes
By the end of this module, you can:
- Compute expectation damages under R2d § 347 — value as promised minus value received, plus incidental and consequential losses — and apply the standard market-based measures for sellers (UCC § 2-708) and buyers (UCC § 2-712, § 2-713).
- Apply the limits on damages — foreseeability (Hadley v. Baxendale; R2d § 351), certainty (R2d § 352), mitigation (R2d § 350) — and explain how each operates as a separate filter on the recovery.
- Distinguish expectation, reliance (R2d § 349), and restitution (R2d § 371) measures, and decide which one the plaintiff should elect given the facts.
- Apply the rules for liquidated damages and penalties (R2d § 356; UCC § 2-718) and analyze when specific performance is available (R2d § 359; UCC § 2-716).
- Identify intended third-party beneficiaries (R2d § 302) and analyze assignment and delegation (R2d §§ 317-322), including when contract rights cannot be assigned or duties cannot be delegated.