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 "@id": "https://wulfkaal.github.io/entities/contract-law",
 "identifier": "kaal:entity:contract-law",
 "name": "Contract law",
 "termCode": "contract-law",
 "inDefinedTermSet": {
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 "author": {
  "@type": "Person",
  "name": "Wulf A. Kaal",
  "identifier": "https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0757-275X"
 },
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  {
   "@type": "Claim",
   "@id": "https://wulfkaal.github.io/claims/2811718-023",
   "identifier": "kaal:claim:2811718-023",
   "text": "As a contractual matter, due diligence promises made in a brochure, on a website, or in a contract with investors must be in writing to be enforceable.",
   "abstract": "Finally, as a contractual matter, due diligence promises (in a brochure, website, contract with investors, etc.) must be in writing in order for them to be enforceable.",
   "citation": "Wulf A. Kaal, Private Fund Investor Due Diligence – Evidence from 1995 to 2015 (2016). SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=2811718",
   "datePublished": "2016",
   "claim_type": "condition",
   "confidence": "evidenced",
   "is_failure_mode": false,
   "scope_conditions": [
    "contract claims",
    "Statute of Frauds as applied in South Cherry Street"
   ],
   "source_pdf_sha256": "b52152af561288173840a1cabbcf8f4b337e73507c856ee01600799073f4156f",
   "status": "current"
  },
  {
   "@type": "Claim",
   "@id": "https://wulfkaal.github.io/claims/2939127-019",
   "identifier": "kaal:claim:2939127-019",
   "text": "Smart contracting on a blockchain often makes conventional legal contracting unnecessary, because smart contracts emulate the logic of legal contract clauses.",
   "abstract": "Through blockchain technology, smart contracting often makes contractual legal contracting unnecessary as smart contracts often emulate the logic of legal contract clauses.",
   "citation": "Mark Fenwick, Wulf A. Kaal, Erik P. M. Vermeulen, Legal Education in the Blockchain Revolution (2017). SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=2939127",
   "datePublished": "2017",
   "claim_type": "mechanism",
   "confidence": "argued",
   "is_failure_mode": false,
   "scope_conditions": [
    "transactions whose terms can be expressed in code"
   ],
   "source_pdf_sha256": "abcef529c7200261c59eec43018375b3b26e3186239fb9d002bacc298dba26ff",
   "status": "current"
  },
  {
   "@type": "Claim",
   "@id": "https://wulfkaal.github.io/claims/2939127-026",
   "identifier": "kaal:claim:2939127-026",
   "text": "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.",
   "abstract": "While smart contracts may reflect the underlying contract between parties, lawyers may argue that \"smart contracts\" are void and unenforceable under the law.",
   "citation": "Mark Fenwick, Wulf A. Kaal, Erik P. M. Vermeulen, Legal Education in the Blockchain Revolution (2017). SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=2939127",
   "datePublished": "2017",
   "claim_type": "failure",
   "confidence": "argued",
   "is_failure_mode": true,
   "scope_conditions": [
    "smart contracts assessed under existing contract law doctrine"
   ],
   "source_pdf_sha256": "abcef529c7200261c59eec43018375b3b26e3186239fb9d002bacc298dba26ff",
   "status": "current"
  },
  {
   "@type": "Claim",
   "@id": "https://wulfkaal.github.io/claims/2939127-027",
   "identifier": "kaal:claim:2939127-027",
   "text": "Contract law rules on formation, interpretation, conditions, and remedies require substantive adjustment before smart contracts can be accommodated.",
   "abstract": "Contractual legal rules regarding formation, interpretation, conditions, and remedies require substantive adjustments of smart contracts in contract law.",
   "citation": "Mark Fenwick, Wulf A. Kaal, Erik P. M. Vermeulen, Legal Education in the Blockchain Revolution (2017). SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=2939127",
   "datePublished": "2017",
   "claim_type": "condition",
   "confidence": "argued",
   "is_failure_mode": false,
   "scope_conditions": [
    "existing contract law doctrine applied to blockchain smart contracts"
   ],
   "source_pdf_sha256": "abcef529c7200261c59eec43018375b3b26e3186239fb9d002bacc298dba26ff",
   "status": "current"
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  {
   "@type": "Claim",
   "@id": "https://wulfkaal.github.io/claims/2998033-004",
   "identifier": "kaal:claim:2998033-004",
   "text": "Smart contracts face a legal enforceability risk: they may be attacked as void and unenforceable, because contract law rules on formation, interpretation, conditions and remedies were not written for coded agreements and require substantive adjustment.",
   "abstract": "lawyers may argue that \"smart contracts\" are void and unenforceable under the law. Contractual legal rules regarding formation, interpretation, conditions and remedies require substantive adjustments for smart contracts in contract law.",
   "citation": "Wulf A. Kaal, Blockchain Innovation for Private Investment Funds (2017). SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=2998033",
   "datePublished": "2017",
   "claim_type": "failure",
   "confidence": "argued",
   "is_failure_mode": true,
   "scope_conditions": [
    "applies under contract law regimes that have not been amended to recognize smart contracts"
   ],
   "source_pdf_sha256": "aafb1be3c25cd33da477d759df9ca2f856f0a8fe133d6396da2e75d0af573dbd",
   "status": "current"
  },
  {
   "@type": "Claim",
   "@id": "https://wulfkaal.github.io/claims/3071378-009",
   "identifier": "kaal:claim:3071378-009",
   "text": "Even where a smart contract reflects the underlying bargain between the parties, lawyers may argue that smart contracts are void and unenforceable under the law.",
   "abstract": "While smart contracts may reflect the underlying contract between parties, lawyers may argue that \"smart contracts\" are void and unenforceable under the law.",
   "citation": "Wulf A. Kaal, Blockchain Technology and Race in Corporate America (2017). SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=3071378",
   "datePublished": "2017",
   "claim_type": "failure",
   "confidence": "argued",
   "is_failure_mode": true,
   "scope_conditions": [
    "existing contract law doctrine applied to code-based agreements"
   ],
   "source_pdf_sha256": "125f01674d13b6bb0310c4be7a20ff538dccbc36ecf352770b3c580028387edd",
   "status": "current"
  },
  {
   "@type": "Claim",
   "@id": "https://wulfkaal.github.io/claims/3227967-021",
   "identifier": "kaal:claim:3227967-021",
   "text": "A smart contract is computer program code that enables the verification, execution and enforcement of specific terms and conditions of a contractual arrangement.",
   "abstract": "A smart contract is a computer program code that enables the verification, execution, and enforcement of specific terms and conditions of a contractual arrangement.",
   "citation": "Mark Fenwick, Wulf A. Kaal, Erik P.M. Vermeulen, Legal Education in a Digital Age Why 'Coding for Lawyers' Matters (2018). SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=3227967",
   "datePublished": "2018",
   "claim_type": "definitional",
   "confidence": "asserted",
   "is_failure_mode": false,
   "scope_conditions": [],
   "source_pdf_sha256": "f6e13b956f864ab32ec3305d095a35a127770327d75b3688f785cefc437d369f",
   "status": "current"
  },
  {
   "@type": "Claim",
   "@id": "https://wulfkaal.github.io/claims/3227967-022",
   "identifier": "kaal:claim:3227967-022",
   "text": "Smart contract use scales with device connectivity: the more devices are connected to each other, the more smart contracts will be used to execute and enforce legal transactions, and they are already disrupting traditional legal assumptions, doctrines and concepts.",
   "abstract": "The more devices are connected to each other, the more \"smart contracts\" will be used to execute and enforce \"legal transactions.\" There is no doubt that smart contracts are already disrupting traditional legal assumptions, doctrines, and concepts.",
   "citation": "Mark Fenwick, Wulf A. Kaal, Erik P.M. Vermeulen, Legal Education in a Digital Age Why 'Coding for Lawyers' Matters (2018). SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=3227967",
   "datePublished": "2018",
   "claim_type": "predictive",
   "confidence": "argued",
   "is_failure_mode": false,
   "scope_conditions": [
    "growth of the Internet of Things"
   ],
   "source_pdf_sha256": "f6e13b956f864ab32ec3305d095a35a127770327d75b3688f785cefc437d369f",
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  },
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   "@type": "Claim",
   "@id": "https://wulfkaal.github.io/claims/3409548-015",
   "identifier": "kaal:claim:3409548-015",
   "text": "Smart contracts face a legal origin problem: lawyers may argue that they are void and unenforceable, and contract law rules on formation, interpretation, conditions and remedies require substantive adjustment before smart contracts fit within it.",
   "abstract": "While smart contracts may reflect the underlying contract between parties, lawyers may argue that \"smart contracts\" are void and unenforceable under the law.65 Contractual legal rules regarding formation, interpretation, conditions and remedies require substantive adjustments for smart contracts",
   "citation": "Kaal, Financial Technology and Hedge Funds (2019). SSRN: https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=3409548",
   "datePublished": "2019",
   "claim_type": "condition",
   "confidence": "argued",
   "is_failure_mode": true,
   "scope_conditions": [
    "absent statutory recognition of smart contracts"
   ],
   "source_pdf_sha256": "74227ab2656b06bfe4a29c942fc2ba26df9f476917e0a9f85ec038b8c3402c40",
   "status": "current"
  },
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   "@type": "Claim",
   "@id": "https://wulfkaal.github.io/claims/5554218-005",
   "identifier": "kaal:claim:5554218-005",
   "text": "Posting cryptocurrency to escrow like smart contracts is often uneconomic compared with traditional financial instruments, and this inefficiency undermines the practical utility of smart contracts as a vehicle for consideration, especially in high value or long term agreements.",
   "abstract": "posting cryptocurrency to escrow-like smart contracts is often uneconomic compared to traditional financial instruments.10 This inefficiency challenges the practical utility of smart contracts as a vehicle for consideration, particularly in high-value or long-term agreements.",
   "citation": "Furrer Andreas, Wulf A. Kaal, Universal Digital Law Codex (UDLC) Building the Legal Infrastructure for the Digital Era (2025). SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=5554218",
   "datePublished": "2025",
   "claim_type": "failure",
   "confidence": "argued",
   "is_failure_mode": true,
   "scope_conditions": [
    "high value agreements",
    "long term agreements",
    "escrow style locking of crypto collateral"
   ],
   "source_pdf_sha256": "55738b4035a91b70aa2ddaa127552fe4b373ec641afee2719fbdcabebdcbea44",
   "status": "current"
  },
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   "@type": "Claim",
   "@id": "https://wulfkaal.github.io/claims/5886342-008",
   "identifier": "kaal:claim:5886342-008",
   "text": "Interpretation of the Codex must give priority to the intent of the parties and to the specific context of the legal status or act in question, rather than to a literal or purely systemic reading.",
   "abstract": "(2) The interpretation of UDLC provisions shall pri- oritize the intent of the Parties, the specific context",
   "citation": "Furrer Andreas, Wulf A. Kaal, Stephan D. Meyer, Universal Digital Law Codex (UDLC) (2025). SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=5886342",
   "datePublished": "2025",
   "claim_type": "design",
   "confidence": "asserted",
   "is_failure_mode": false,
   "scope_conditions": [],
   "source_pdf_sha256": "dc456a1ce2ea4a356dbcb35dc900ec36be94b8c9b6da4a2c8c268d6301f66359",
   "status": "current"
  },
  {
   "@type": "Claim",
   "@id": "https://wulfkaal.github.io/claims/5886342-025",
   "identifier": "kaal:claim:5886342-025",
   "text": "Choosing the Codex carries a default incorporation of the UNIDROIT Principles of International Commercial Contracts 2016 as the basis of the parties' contractual relationship, unless the Codex provides different rules or the parties expressly exclude them.",
   "abstract": "agree to use the UNIDROIT Principles of Interna-",
   "citation": "Furrer Andreas, Wulf A. Kaal, Stephan D. Meyer, Universal Digital Law Codex (UDLC) (2025). SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=5886342",
   "datePublished": "2025",
   "claim_type": "design",
   "confidence": "asserted",
   "is_failure_mode": false,
   "scope_conditions": [
    "unless the Codex provides a different rule",
    "unless the parties expressly exclude the Principles"
   ],
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   "status": "current"
  }
 ],
 "description": "12 claims in the published works of Wulf A. Kaal carry the concept tag 'contract-law'. Derived node: a roster, not an adjudicated definition."
}