Mr. Justice Cardozo and the Law of Contracts

Abstract

A REVIEW of the consecutive opinions of any court is likely to be a sad undertaking, sad for the reviewer and sad for the reader of his review. A series of opinions by a group of judges, taken consecutively and according to the " run of the mine," will not be found to be filled with many nuggets of gold. At least, they will not seem so to any single reader. His interest is restricted within fairly definite boundaries, determined by his own past experience and study. What single reviewer will stay awake as he thumbs the pages of cases listed under " Errors and Appeals," or under "Patents" in the Federal Supplement, or under the conglomerate of titles such as Negligence, Workmen's Compensation, Indians, Automobiles and Criminal Law? The fact that each and every case had intense interest for the two litigants, for the attorneys who represented them, and for the judges as well, is not enough to keep the reviewer awake; much less is his review likely to keep others awake.