# kaal:claim:2939127-026

**Claim.** Because the legal origin of smart contracting is unsettled, lawyers may argue that smart contracts are void and unenforceable under the law even where the smart contract accurately reflects the parties' underlying agreement.

**Type.** failure  **Support.** argued

**Holds when.**

- smart contracts assessed under existing contract law doctrine

**Source quote.**

> While smart contracts may reflect the underlying contract between parties, lawyers may argue that "smart contracts" are void and unenforceable under the law.

**From.** Mark Fenwick, Wulf A. Kaal, Erik P. M. Vermeulen, *Legal Education in the Blockchain Revolution* (2017), III.4. Limitations, page 30

**Cite as.** Mark Fenwick, Wulf A. Kaal, Erik P. M. Vermeulen, Legal Education in the Blockchain Revolution (2017). SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=2939127

**Verify.** sha256 of source PDF `abcef529c7200261c59eec43018375b3b26e3186239fb9d002bacc298dba26ff` at https://raw.githubusercontent.com/wulfkaal/Academic-Papers/main/papers/pdf/Fenwick%20et%20al.%20-%202017%20-%20Legal%20Education%20in%20the%20Blockchain%20Revolution.pdf

**Failure mode.** smart-contract-unenforceability  (family: legal-personality-and-liability-gap)

**Topics.** smart-contracts, law-and-legal-systems, risk-and-incentives

**Keywords.** smart-contracts, enforceability, contract-law, legal-risk

**Related claims.**

- restated_by: https://wulfkaal.github.io/claims/3071378-009
- extended_by: https://wulfkaal.github.io/claims/3409548-015
- extended_by: https://wulfkaal.github.io/claims/5554218-009
- restated_by: https://wulfkaal.github.io/claims/2998033-004

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