WilmerHale and Wolters Kluwer are delighted to publish a completely updated and extended edition of Contractual Performance and COVID-19, the leading in-depth comparative law analysis on the impact of the pandemic on contractual performance.

The global outbreak of COVID-19 has had, and continues to have, a devastating impact on human health and life around the globe. It has had an equally far-reaching impact on contractual relations worldwide. The continued global spread of COVID-19 has forced governments and companies alike to take unprecedented measures to slow down the spread of the pandemic and to protect health and safety.

All of this may impact the ability of parties to reasonably exercise their contractual rights or perform their contractual obligations.

This site:

• provides an in-depth legal analysis of key civil and common law jurisdictions across the globe, including the US, England and Wales, Singapore, Brazil, Germany, France, Switzerland, and Austria;
• examines for each of the jurisdictions covered whether and under what circumstances COVID-19-related impediments may excuse contractual performance or lead to modification or termination;
• addresses a wide variety of legal concepts, such as impossibility, impracticability, frustration of purpose, force majeure, hardship or imprévision, and clausula rebus sic stantibus;
• opens up a wealth of insights for businesses, practitioners, and academics around the globe by providing an analytical framework across various jurisdictions, along with a comparative analysis of factual scenarios;
• continues to be updated with additional developments and key civil and common law jurisdictions.

Access the site.

Praise for Contractual Performance and COVID-19

• “Disasters, natural and unnatural, whether meteorological ones or pandemics, airplane crashes or extravagant environmental horrors, inevitably result in disputes and litigation.  Normally they are not global, but the coursing of Covid-19 around our planet, sparing no corner of it, uniquely will result in litigation, including international arbitrations. Indeed, already many are afoot. What more timely and comprehensive tome to guide even the most skilled counsel in addressing the novel issues involved than this one by Schwarz, Trenor and Ortner.  Their work perforce is the “holy book” for all those lawyers whose clients become ensnared in the rising attempts to fix legal liability midst the rampant Covid-19. The profession has been blessed by the authors’ inspiration,  initiative and foresight in producing it.” (Charles Brower, Twenty Essex Court, US & UK)
• “The unique and novel legal questions and challenges that COVID-19 has thrown up are neatly identified and addressed by Schwarz, Trenor & Ortner with admirable clarity in this excellent comparative analysis. Everyone who has had or is likely to have a brush with a COVID-19 induced legal issue would be well advised to keep this book within arm’s reach.” (Davinder Singh SC, Davinder Singh Chambers LLC, Singapore)
• “The COVID-19 crisis poses challenges to the economy and lawyers unparalleled in recent history. The book by Schwarz, Trenor & Ortner provides an in-depth overview of non-performance issues in this context in numerous jurisdictions. Judging from the chapters already available, the authors have more than lived up to the task. They have come up with not only with a truly fascinating, in-depth coverage of the impact of COVID-19 on the non-performance of contracts, but in this context also deal with a multitude of fundamental problems of contract law. Therefore, the book will be interesting and, no doubt, tremendously useful to both practitioners and academics.” (Georg Kodek, Justice Austrian Supreme Court, Vienna University of Economics and Business, Austria)
• “The unique global challenges posed by the COVID-19 crisis to the performance of international business contracts require global concepts and responses. The book by Schwarz, Trenor & Ortner presents such an approach by providing the reader with a unique and in-depth comparative overview of the resolution of COVID-19 related (non)performance issues under numerous domestic contract laws. Definitely mandatory reading for practitioners and academics alike!” (Klaus Peter Berger, University of Cologne, Germany)
• “While others still write blogs and newsletters, Schwarz/Trenor/Ortner and their team have written ‘the book’. Promising an in-depth comparative law analysis of contractual performance and COVID-19 is daunting but from the country chapters already available, the authors do deliver.” (Mattias Scherer, Lalive, Switzerland)
• “Schwarz/Trenor/Ortner and their team do more than provide a very thorough analysis of all available remedies under French Law to address the COVID-19 impact on contractual performance. They also give practical examples based on hypothetical scenarios that will no doubt prove to be extremely useful to practitioners and arbitral tribunals alike." (Philippe Cavalieros, Simmons & Simmons, France)

Additional contributors: Margaret Artz, Cem Kalelioglu, Olivier Stephan, Manuel Valderrama, Marleen Krueger, Juliane Reschke, Jared Tan, Ole Jensen, Jonathan Lim and Claudio Salas