The reliance interest in contract damages

Abstract

76. See p. 377 infra. 77. "Even today, while the discussions in the opinions often assume that the standard of certainty of proof applies to the proof of damages generally. .. the principal field of its use remains the field of loss of commercial profits.' McCoRMxcic, DAMAGES (1935) 105-106. 78. See the cases cited notes 63-65, supra. These cases suffice to show that the relief is not limited, as the CONTRACTS RESTATEMENT would limit it, to expenditures in performance of the contract, or in preparation to perform it (§333), or to the rental value of the property rendered idle by the defendant's breach (§331).

Damages as One of the Remedies Under the Law of Germany

“…В действительности в английском праве expectation interest -это то, на что лицо рассчи-тывает в результате исполнения договора другой стороной, но не собственные издержки стороны [Fuller, Perdue 1936].…”

Contract remedies: general

“…As courts express it, however, the preferred measure of damages is the amount necessary to put the aggrieved party in the same position as if performance had occurred, which is known as the expectation measure. Fuller and Perdue (1935) provide the standard taxonomy of contract damage measures. They identify three diff erent 'interests' of the promisee that are aff ected by a breach -expectation, reliance, and restitution -and state that the most common damage measures provide compensation for one of the three.…”

Restitutionary Remedies in the Contractual Context

“…Reliance damages are relevant only because they play a part in determining the expectation measure, using the presumption of recoupment. The reliance measure does not give effect to an alternative principle of recovery, or protect a distinct ‘reliance interest’ under the contract, since this would make no sense of the cap. Reliance losses are merely ‘a species of expectation losses’, or a means for assessing them, and in the end there is only the right to receive performance, for which the appropriate remedy is specific performance or expectation damages.…”