Key Ideas in Commercial Law

This book stands back from the legal rules and considers commercial law in its broader context.

‘Students will find this work stimulating, engaging and enlightening. Practitioners in commercial law will find nuanced and insightful articulations of their stock-in-trade.’ Sir David Foxton, Judge in Charge of the Commercial Court

This book unpacks the themes and controversies that pervade commercial law. Commercial parties trade in three things: property, services and credit. In all but the most basic of businesses, a commercial enterprise must have more than one individual empowered to transact on its behalf.

The rules at the heart of commercial law are those that govern when and how a person can bargain for property, services and credit, and to acquire, dispose of, and create interests in assets. Many of these are default rules, which the parties can vary by agreement. Other rules – such as those concerning the priority of competing title claims to assets – are mandatory. Commercial law also involves the taking and allocation of two types of risk: the risk of inadequate or non-performance of agreed obligations, and the risk that counterparties will lack the means to pay what is owed.

This book explores the key ideas in commercial law through these five topics: trade, transacting, title, performance risk, and credit risk.