Monograph No. 1
An Introduction to Legal Research
MMXXV
In Press
An Introduction to Legal Research
The hierarchy of authority and the discipline of citation.
Faculty of the School of Legal Research
← The Academy
A School of the Academy
School of Commercial Law
Department of Commercial & Transactional Law
Sales, secured transactions, negotiable instruments, and the UCC.
§ I
Introduction
Scope of Study
Commercial Law
Commercial law is a code. The School reads Articles 1 through 9 in sequence, with attention to definitions, default rules, and the variations adopted by jurisdiction.
§ II
Philosophy of the School
On how this School reads.
The Uniform Commercial Code is a code in the civilian sense: a comprehensive statement of default rules, joined to a vocabulary of defined terms. The School reads the Code as it was drafted — beginning with Article 1 and reading definitions before substance — and treats the Permanent Editorial Board commentary as a record of considered interpretation.
§ III
What Students Will Study
The commitments of the School.
A School commits to a set of questions and to a method of reading them. The following are the working commitments of this department.
- 01
The architecture of the Uniform Commercial Code and its defined terms
- 02
The formation, performance, and breach of a contract for the sale of goods
- 03
The creation, perfection, and priority of a security interest
- 04
The treatment of negotiable instruments and the holder-in-due-course doctrine
- 05
The interaction of the Code with other bodies of contract and property law
§ IV
Curriculum
The syllabus.
The syllabus is read in sequence. Foundations are not optional; advanced study presumes them.
Foundations
- 01
Article 1 definitions and the structure of the Code
- 02
Good faith, course of dealing, and usage of trade
- 03
Statute of Frauds under Article 2
Intermediate Study
- 01
Formation, modification, and the battle of the forms
- 02
Warranties: express, implied, and the means of disclaimer
- 03
Risk of loss and the merchant rules
Advanced Study
- 01
Attachment and perfection of a security interest
- 02
Priority contests among secured parties and lien creditors
- 03
Default, enforcement, and the disposition of collateral
Research & Method
- 01
Comparing state non-uniform amendments to UCC Article 9
- 02
Reading a UCC-1 financing statement against the underlying agreement
- 03
Locating Permanent Editorial Board commentary on a disputed term
Reference Materials
- 01
Uniform Commercial Code, official text and comments
- 02
Permanent Editorial Board commentaries
Suggested Reading
- 01
White, Summers & Hillman, Uniform Commercial Code
- 02
Convention on Contracts for the International Sale of Goods (CISG)
§ V
Learning Outcomes
The capacities a member should leave with.
Outcomes are stated as capacities, not credentials. They describe what a member should be able to do after sustained reading.
- 01
Read a UCC article in the order it was drafted and locate the controlling definition
- 02
Trace a security interest from attachment through priority to enforcement
- 03
Identify when a state's non-uniform amendment alters a default rule
§ VI
Primary Authorities
The texts the School takes seriously.
Authorities are listed by category. Entries marked in preparation are catalogued and reviewed before they enter the working record.
Statutes
2 entries
Authority
Uniform Commercial Code, official text
Authority
State enactments and non-uniform amendments
Administrative Guidance
1 entry
Authority
Permanent Editorial Board for the Uniform Commercial Code, commentaries
Historical Sources
1 entry
Authority
Convention on Contracts for the International Sale of Goods (1980)
Treatises & Restatements
1 entry
Authority
White, Summers & Hillman, Uniform Commercial Code
§ VII
Featured Publications
From the press of the institution.
The following volumes are drawn from, or supply, the work of this School. Each is reviewed by faculty before publication.
Vol. II
Consumer Credit Authority
MMXXVI
Forthcoming
Consumer Credit Authority
The Fair Debt Collection Practices Act and the Fair Credit Reporting Act, read as written.
Faculty of the School of Consumer Credit
Vol. II
Reading the Recorded Instrument
MMXXV
Forthcoming
Reading the Recorded Instrument
Deeds, mortgages, satisfactions, and the chain of title.
Faculty of the School of Property Law
The Society Press
All publications →§ VIII
Research in the Library
Where this School reads.
The divisions below carry the primary materials this School draws on. The catalogue opens in stages as the index is reviewed.
Library Division
Statutes
Codified federal and state statutory law, organized by title and chapter.
Library Division
Administrative Guidance
Agency interpretive material — revenue rulings, advisory opinions, and policy statements.
Library Division
Treatises
Restatements, hornbooks, and reference works of accepted authority.
Catalogue · XI Divisions
Enter the Research Library →§ IX
Related Schools
Departments that read alongside this one.
Doctrine does not respect departmental boundaries. The following Schools take up adjacent questions.
Admission
Join the founding cohort of the Commercial Law department.
All Founding Members are admitted into every School. Tuition and dues are not yet open.
The Real Law Society · Est. MMXXVRead Law. Not Lore.Vol. I — Folio I