9422795 Bernstein This project analyzes a type of law that has become very important in the business economy of the United States, but that has been largely ignored by legal scholars: private commercial law developed by trade associations and enforced through association-run arbitration tribunals. This private law exists in a wide variety of industries such as grain, textiles, rubber, movies, and diamonds. It is embodied in detailed rules and standard form contracts that cover most of the same aspects of commercial transactions as the Uniform Commercial Code (UCC). These rules are supplemented by customs and usages of trade as well as by industry specific ethical codes that set out standards defining proper commercial behavior. These standards are similar to the UCC's obligations of good faith and fair dealing, but tend to be far more specific. The tribunals that enforce these rules operate under detailed procedural codes. This project will explore why these private legal systems developed and endured. In addition to in-depth case studies of several private law systems, the project will create a data base of trade rules, standard form contracts, ethical rules, association bylaws, and procedural rules, as well as information about the associations obtained through interviews. It will seek to establish the substance and extent of private commercial law and compare and contrast this law with the formal commercial law produced by the state. The analysis will be presented in a book entitled THE NEWEST LAW MERCHANT: PRIVATE COMMERCIAL LAW IN THE UNITED STATES. It will focus on the reasons for the development of the private law systems, the costs and benefits associated with their use, and the mechanisms through which the enforcing tribunals achieve compliance with their rulings without recourse to the courts. It will thus make a contribution to understanding dispute resolution in the United States in both the private and public spheres. %%%% This project analyzes a type of law that h as become very important in the business economy of the United States, but that has been largely ignored by legal scholars: private commercial law developed by trade associations and enforced through association-run arbitration tribunals. This private law exists in a wide variety of industries such as grain, textiles, rubber, movies, and diamonds. The tribunals that enforce these rules operate under detailed procedural codes. This project will explore why these private legal systems developed and endured. In addition to in-depth case studies of several private law systems, the project will create a data base of trade rules, standard form contracts, ethical rules, association bylaws, and procedural rules, as well as information about the associations obtained through interviews. It will seek to establish the substance and extent of private commercial law and compare and contrast this law with the formal commercial law produced by the state. It will focus on the reasons for the development of the private law systems, the costs and benefits associated with their use, and the mechanisms through which the enforcing tribunals achieve compliance with their rulings without recourse to the courts. It will thus make a contribution to understanding dispute resolution in the United States in both the private and public spheres.
