Tory Weigand has published another extensive law review article that was just published by the highly regarded Suffolk University Law School Journal of Trial and Appellate Advocacy. The entire issue is comprised of Tory’s work – all 87 pages and 498 footnotes. The article is about promissory estoppel, and the introduction is worth repeating:
“Promissory estoppel’s voyage had been transformative. Birthed as an equitable defensive rule of evidence and shield requiring willful intent, it migrated to an affirmative sword rendering certain discrete promises binding. . . . It is now a full-fledged independent cause of action applicable to any sufficient “promise.”
This is not the first time Tory has published a scholarly work. For example, the Supreme Judicial Court in Massachusetts has cited Tory’s 2008 piece:
“The unsettled boundaries of the doctrine have left it open to criticisms similar to those that the defendants have leveled here: that the loss of chance doctrine upends the long-standing preponderance of the evidence standard; alters the burden of proof in favor of the plaintiff; undermines the uniformity and predictability central to tort litigation; results in an expansion of liability; and is too complex to administer.” See generally T.A. Weigand, Loss of Chance in Medical Malpractice: The Need for Caution, 87 Mass. L.Rev. 3 (2002). Matsuyama v. Birnbaum, 452 Mass. 1, 15, 890 N.E.2d 819, 831 (2008).
His 2004 article on the duty of good faith has not only been cited in Massachusetts, but by courts in other states:
“The conduct of sophisticated parties engaged in commercial transactions is dictated by the ‘impersonal laws of the marketplace’ [quoting Brunswick Hills Racquet Club, Inc. v. Route 18 Shopping Ctr. Assocs., 182 N.J. 210, 864 A.2d 387, 389 (2005),] and the demands of ‘practical business exigency.’ [quoting Marietta Fertilizer Co. v. Beckwith, 61 S.E. at 150.] Parties engaged in a commercial transaction pursue their own self-interest and understand and expect that the parties with whom they are dealing are doing likewise…Tory A. Weigand, The Duty of Good Faith and Fair Dealing in Commercial Contracts in Massachusetts, 88 Mass. L.Rev. 174, 184 (2004). SecurAmerica Bus. Credit v. Schledwitz, No. W2012-02605-COA-R3CV, 2014 WL 1266121, at *28 (Tenn. Ct. App. Mar. 28, 2014)
