ACS Washington State: Consumer Choice and The Benefit of the Bargain

Please join the ACS Washington State Lawyer Chapter as we host Mark A. Lemley for a talk about his newest working paper, The Benefit of the Bargain. In his paper, Professor Lemley proposes a method for returning meaningful power to consumers by requiring that default contract rules apply unless companies show customers made an actual choice to accept the companies' preferred terms. A copy of the working paper is available for access here.

In the age of clickwrap, terms of use, and standard form contracts, in one way or another the American public has been forced to agree to a multiplicity of contracts in which they have had no real choice in agreeing to the terms. Despite this lack of choice, courts have become increasingly willing to enforce these one-sided contracts, leaving consumers unable to vindicate their rights. We are excited to host Professor Lemley to discuss his consequential paper and the changes it proposes.

Featuring: 

Mark A. Lemley, William H. Neukom Professor of Law, Stanford Law School; Director, Stanford Program in Law, Science and Technology