Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-gbm5v Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-27T03:56:12.078Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

Coronavirus & Contracts: How the Coronavirus May Trigger Force Majeure

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 January 2021

Abstract

Image of the first page of this content. For PDF version, please use the ‘Save PDF’ preceeding this image.'
Type
Notes & Recent Case Developments
Copyright
Copyright © American Society of Law, Medicine and Ethics and Boston University 2020

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

1 Locations with Confirmed COVID-19 Cases Global Map, Ctrs. for Disease Control and Prevention (Mar. 11, 2020), https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/locations-confirmed-cases.html.

2 Restatement (Second) of Contracts § 262-263 (Am. Law Inst. 1981).

3 See Janice Ryan, Understanding Force Majeure Clauses, Venable (Feb. 2011), https://www.venable.com/insights/publications/2011/02/understanding-force-majeure-clauses.

4 See Timothy Murray, Drafting Advice: Avoiding Disastrous Force Majeure Clauses, LexisNexis (Feb. 28, 2018), https://www.lexisnexis.com/lexis-practice-advisor/the-journal/b/lpa/posts/drafting-advice-avoiding-disastrous-force-majeure-clauses; Ryan, supra note 3.

5 Restatement (Second) of Contracts § 261 (Am. Law Inst. 1981) (emphasis added).

6 Murray, supra note 4.

7 Restatement (Second) of Contracts § 261 cmt. d (Am. Law Inst. 1981).

8 Id.

9 Commonwealth Edison Co. v. Allied-Gen. Nuclear Services, 731 F. Supp. 850, 855 (N.D. Ill. 1990).

10 Murray, supra note 4.

11 Murray, supra note 4.

12 US: When Is Force Majeure Really Force Majeure?, Baker McKenzie (Mar. 5, 2020), https://www.bakermckenzie.com/en/insight/publications/2020/03/when-is-force-majeure-really-force-majeure.

13 Id.

14 See Coronavirus and Force Majeure Contract Clauses, Greenberg Traurig (Mar. 3, 2020), https://www.gtlaw.com/en/insights/2020/3/coronavirus-and-force-majeure-contract-clauses. See also Ryan, supra note 3.

15 Anton Ware et. al., What to Do When You Receive a Coronavirus-Related Force Majeure Notice, Arnold & Porter (Mar. 4, 2020), https://www.arnoldporter.com/en/perspectives/publications/2020/03/what-to-do-when-you-receive-acoronavirus.

16 Id.

17 Timeline: How the new coronavirus spread, Al Jazeera (Mar. 12, 2020), https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2020/01/timeline-china-coronavirus-spread-200126061554884.html.

18 Id.

19 Id.

20 Id.

21 See Id.; Bill Chappell, Coronavirus: COVID-19 Is Now Officially A Pandemic, WHO Says, NPR (Mar. 11, 2020, 12:30 PM), https://www.npr.org/sections/goatsandsoda/2020/03/11/814474930/coronavirus-covid-19-is-now-officially-a-pandemic-who-says.

22 Karen Zraick & Sandra Garcia, Coronavirus Cancellations: A Brief List, N.Y. Times (Mar. 12, 2020, 12:53 PM), https://www.nytimes.com/article/cancelled-events-coronavirus.html.

23 Id.

24 Id.

25 Natt Garun, All the ways China's coronavirus outbreak is affecting tech, Verge (Feb. 21, 2020, 1:21 PM), https://www.theverge.com/2020/2/7/21128307/coronavirus-outbreak-tech-industry-production-supply-chain-delay-impact.

26 Ina Fried, Coronavirus dents tech's supply chain, AXIOS (Mar. 11, 2020), https://www.axios.com/coronavirus-tech-supply-chain-45da76ff-fe0c-429b-8467-6018d7630f5b.html.

27 Lisa Eadicicco, Apple iPhone Production won't recover from coronavirus until Q2, Business Insider (Mar. 2, 2020, 9:49 AM), https://www.businessinsider.com/apple-iphone-production-coronavirusq2-kuo-2020-3.

28 Ware et. al., supra note 15.

29 Coronavirus (COVID-19) and Force Majeure Contract Clauses, Duane Morris (Mar. 4, 2020), https://www.duanemorris.com/alerts/coronavirus_covid19_force_majeure_contract_clauses_0320.html.

30 Ware et. al., supra note 15.

31 Id.

32 See Rexing Quality Eggs v. Rembrandt Enters., Inc., 360 F. Supp. 3d 817, 840 (S.D. Ind. 2018).

33 Id.