Making Commercial Law through Practice 1830–1970: Law as Backcloth

Description

Making Commercial Law Through Practice 1830–1970 adds a new dimension to the history of Britain's commerce, trade manufacturing and financial services, by showing how they have operated in law over the last one hundred and forty years. In the main law and lawyers were not the driving force; regulation was largely absent; and judges tended to accommodate commercial needs, so that market actors were able to shape the law through their practices. Using legal and historical scholarship, the author draws on archival sources previously unexploited for the study of commercial practice and the law's role in it. This book will stimulate parallel research in other subject areas of law. Modern commercial lawyers will learn a great deal about the current law from the story of its evolution, and economic and business historians will see how the world of commerce and trade operated in a legal context. Cover Half-title page Series page Title page Copyright page Dedication Contents List of Figures Preface Note on Terms and Archives Table of Cases Table of Legislation 1 Commercial and Legal Contexts 1.1 Introduction 1.2 Commercial Context: Markets, Organisations and Players 1.3 Legal Context: Principles, Practices and Realities 1.4 Conclusion 2 The Commodity Markets of London and Liverpool 2.1 Introduction 2.2 Organisation and Membership 2.3 Brokers, Rules and Third Parties 2.4 Emergence of Futures Markets 2.5 Clearing and Settlement 2.6 Maintaining Market Integrity 2.7 Conclusion 3 Agents, ‘Agents’ and Agency 3.1 Introduction 3.2 Agents and Agency Law 3.3 Law Facilitating Agency 3.4 Agents as Principals 3.5 Varieties of Agent 3.6 Managing Agents 3.7 Conclusion 4 Sale, Hire and the Distribution of Manufactured Goods 4.1 Introduction 4.2 Sales Law in Outline: Quality 4.3 Heavy Manufactured Goods: Plant and Machinery, Chemicals, Locomotives 4.4 Hire, Hire Purchase and Asset Finance 4.5 Distribution: Controlling the Market 4.6 Conclusion 5 International Commodity Sales 5.1 Introduction 5.2 Origins: Bought and Sold Notes 5.3 Trade Associations and Standard Form Contracts 5.4 Commodity Auctions 5.5 Private Law-Making: The Processes of the Trade Associations 5.6 The Legal Framework: Contract-Making and the Courts 5.7 Disputes and Arbitration 5.8 Conclusion 6 Bank Finance for Trade and Industry 6.1 Introduction 6.2 Trade Finance 6.3 Financing Business 6.4 Institutional Underpinning 6.5 Conclusion Index