Section 4.7 Foreseeability

• Library: Contracts 2016 Supp

1. (§4.7) Foreseeability

As discussed in §4.3 above, in an action for breach of contract, a plaintiff is entitled to recover:

· the benefit of the bargain;

· damages naturally and proximately caused by the breach; and

· any special damages that were reasonably foreseeable at the time the contract was made.

This universal rule was announced in the English case of Hadley v. Baxendale, 9 Exch. 341 (1854), which held that damages peculiar to the contract, i.e., special damages, were not recoverable unless they were within the contemplation of the parties at the time the contract was made. The foreseeability principle in Hadley...