Best Jobs

The Wall Street Journal has published a list of the 200 best jobs for 2010 based on environment, income, employment outlook, and physical demands and stress. The list reflects a study by Careercast.com, an employment site.

Selected data:

1. Actuary
22. Court reporter
62. Musical instrument repairer
63. Federal judge
80. Attorney
179. Roofer
200. Roustabout

Saab RIP

It's over. Ja.

The acting CEO of GM says there's no hope a bidder will appear with the kind of krona that can get the pistons pumping again at Saab.

UCC Article 2 Sale of Goods

I am reassured and horrified that the Article 2 scope disorder I've observed among my Contracts students is not just my problem. Thom Lambert at University of Missouri Law encountered a severe strain while grading his Contracts final exams and wrote about it on Truth on the Market.

UCC Article 2 governs contracts for the sale of goods. Apart from some interesting cases involving North Sea oil platforms, electricity, and software which push the envelope of 'goods,' it really couldn't be simpler. Yet, students every year write in the the final exam answer that Article 2 does or does not apply to a particular transaction because one or both of the parties is or is not a merchant.

Yes, some sections of Article 2 regulate the rights of certain professional sellers or buyers who participate in a sale of goods. But the scope of Article 2 is not merchant dependent. UCC Article 2 governs contracts for the sale of goods and it does not matter for purposes of its scope whether the parties are Exxon or rank amateurs picking up a broken leaf blower at a neighborhood garage sale.

Professor Lambert laments that every year his Contracts students screw this up on the exam, and the next year he increases the number of times he tells the class that UCC Article 2 governs all contracts for the sale of goods without regard to whether one of the parties is a merchant. Ad nauseum. I do the same. In every class session in which Article 2 is pertinent I say it: Goods -- not real estate, not services. Goods. Merchant schmerchant, I say. Goods. Do not take your eye off the goods. Where they are, Article 2 (or 2A if the deal is a lease) will be. Merchants come and go. Goods remain.

Let's review. UCC Article 2 applies to all contracts for the sale of goods. Any questions?

Professor Lambert speculates that this mistake may root in students' fixation with UCC 2-207 -- the "battle of the forms" which in part applies only "between merchants." 2-207 is the first foray into statutory interpretation for most students. Perhaps the battle of the forms triggers in some students a form of PTSD. When a simple scope question appears on the exam, students traumatized by 2-207 lose their grip and can see only merchant Viet Cong snaking through the rice. It's only a contract for the sale of goods, but in the heat and the darkness it looks like the enemy. Ah, the smell of merchants in the morning.

My friend and colleague Keith Elkin works with law students preparing for the bar exam. He told me that students make this mistake on practice bar exams even after watching the bar prep video heads say it over and over: UCC Article 2 applies to contracts for the sale of goods.

Next time I teach Contracts, I may give peace a chance and omit coverage of 2-207. If Lambert is right, the price of a really good immersion in a really badly drawn statute is too high.

American Needle Next Week

Professor Stephen Ross hosted a moot argument of the American Needle v. NFL case last month at Penn State Law. The Supreme Court will hear the argument for real Wednesday, January 13. If you missed the moot, you can view it online.

32% More

American people and their businesses filed 32% more bankruptcy cases in 2009 than in 2008. Last year was the seventh worse on record with about 1.43 million cases filed.

The spike in filings was sharpest in Arizona where the number of cases filed in 2009 rose 77% over last year. Wyoming cases rose 60%, Nevada 59% and California 58%. Pennsylvania is near the bottom of the list with a 14% increase. MSNBC.com sports a cool map of the US showing percentage increases by state.

Cold and Gray, Exceedingly Cold and Gray

The sound of the wind howling in the woods outside made me think of the coldest my imagination has ever been: Jack London, To Build a Fire.

"When it is seventy-five below zero, a man must not fail in his first attempt to build a fire --that is, if his feet are wet. If his feet are dry and he fails, he can run along the trail for half a mile and restore his circulation. But the circulation of wet and freezing feet cannot be restored by running when it is seventy-five below. No matter how fast he runs, the wet feet will freeze the harder."

Target Puts a Bulls Eye on Costco and Sam's

Target Corporation has launched The Great Save. It's packing up the holiday doodads and stocking the shelves with super-sized packages of toilet paper, bottled water, ketchup and other useful items. The Great Save will give a part of Target stores the look of a warehouse club.

Smart move? On December 31, Target stock closed down .7%. The Great Save runs through February 21. I'll be watching. NYSE: TGT.