Harry M. Flechtner

Harry M. Flechtner, a four-time winner of the Law School's Excellence-in-Teaching Award, publishes in the areas of international and domestic commercial law, including sales law, general contract law, and bankruptcy. He is co-author of the casebook, Sales, Leases and Electronic Commerce: Problems and Materials on National and International Sales (West Publishing), now in its second edition, and a general editor of Drafting Contracts under the CISG (Harry M. Flechtner, Ronald A. Brand and Mark S. Walter, eds., Oxford University Press, 2008) and of The Draft UNCITRAL Digest and Beyond: Cases, Analysis and Unresolved Issues in the U.N. Sales Convention (Franco Ferrari, Harry Flechtner and Ronald A. Brand, eds., Sellier European Law Publishers, 2004), as well as the author of many chapters and articles on commercial law subjects.  He also writes and performs songs on commercial law topics (see “links”).

Professor Flechtner is one of two National Correspondents for the United States at the United Nations Commission on International Trade Law, and has been cited by the Solicitor General of the United States as "one of the leading academic authorities on the [United Nations Sales] Convention." He serves as faculty adviser to the Journal of Law and Commerce, published by Pitt law students, and he speaks frequently on commercial law at symposia, workshops, and continuing legal education programs.

Programs

• Adviser to the Journal of Law and Commerce

Currently Teaching

• Contracts (Fall 08)
• Commercial Transactions (Spring 09)
• International Sales Seminar (Spring 09)

Courses Previously Taught

• Bankruptcy
• Advanced Bankruptcy

Selected Publications

Books:

• Issues Relating to the Applicability of the United Nations Convention on Contracts for the International Sale of Goods (CISG) U. of Pittsburgh Legal Studies Research Paper No. 2008-07, UNIFORM LAW FOR INTERNATIONAL SALES UNDER THE 1980 UNITED NATIONS CONVENTION, John Honnold, 4th edition, The Hague: Kluwer Law International, Forthcoming
• Issues Relating to Exemption ('Force Majeure') Under Article 79 of the United Nations Convention on Contracts for the International Sale of Goods ('CISG') U. of Pittsburgh Legal Studies Research Paper No. 2008-08, UNIFORM LAW FOR INTERNATIONAL SALES UNDER THE 1980 UNITED NATIONS CONVENTION, John Honnold, 4th edition, The Hague: Kluwer Law International, Forthcoming
• Drafting Contracts under the CISG (Harry M. Flechtner, Ronald A. Brand and Mark S. Walter, editors, Oxford University Press, 2008.)
• The Draft UNCITRAL Digest and Beyond: Cases, Analysis and Unresolved Issues in the U.N. Sales Convention (Franco Ferrari, Harry Flechtner and Ronald A. Brand editors, Sellier European Law Publishers 2004).
• John E. Murray & Harry M. Flechtner, Sales, Leases and Electronic Commerce: Problems and Materials on National and International Transactions (West Group 2d 2003).

Scholarly Articles:

• Selected Issues Relating to the CISG's Scope of Application, 13 The Vindobona Journal of International Commercial Law and Arbiration 91 (2009).  Available on SSRN.
• Funky Mussels, a Stolen Car, and Decrepit Used Shoes: Non-Conforming Goods and Notice Thereof under the United Nations Sales Convention (“CISG”), 26 Boston University Int’l L. J. 1 (2008). Available on SSRN
• Zapata Retold: Attorneys' Fees Are (Still) Not Governed by the CISG, 26 J.L. & Com. 1 (2006-07)(with J. Lookofsky). Available on SSRN.
• Conformity of Goods, Third Party Claims, and Buyer's Notice of Breach: Articles 35-44 of the United Nations Convention on Contracts for the International Sale of Goods (CISG) (paper delivered in November 2006 at Istanbul Bilgi University, to be translated into and published in Turkish) (forthcoming).
• Buyers' Remedies in General and Buyers' Performance-Oriented Remedies (25th Anniversary of the United Nations Convention on Contracts for the International Sale of Goods), 25 J.L. & Com. 339 (2005). Also available on SSRN.
• Nominating Manfred Forberich: The Worst CISG Decision in 25 Years?, 9 The Vindobona J. Int'l. Comm. L. & Arbit. 199 (2005)(with J. Lookofsky). Available on SSRN.
• Substantial Revisions to U.S. Domestic Sales Law (Article 2 UCC), 4 Internationales Handelsrecht/Int'l. Comm. L.: Zeitschrift fur des Internationalen Warenkaufs und Vertriebs 222 (2004).
• Viva Zapata! American Procedure and CISG Substance in a U.S. Circuit Court of Appeal, 7 The Vindobona J. Int'l. Comm. L. & Arbit. 93 (2003)(with J. Lookofsky).  Also available on SSRN.
• Recovering Attorneys' Fees as Damages under the U.N. Sales Convention (CISG): The Role of Case Law in the New International Commercial Practice, with Comments on Zapata Hermanos v. Hearthside Baking, 22 Northwestern J. Int'l L. & Bus. 121 (2002).
• Comparing the General Good Faith Provisions of the PECL and the UCC: Appearance and Reality, 13 Pace International Law Review (Fall 2001) 295-337.  Also available on SSRN.

Awards and Honors

• Excellence in Teaching Award (2003)
• Excellence in Teaching Award (1997)
• Excellence in Teaching Award (1995)
• Excellence in Teaching Award (1989)
• Chancellor's Distinguished Teaching Award (1997)