The program provides a practical understanding of core Law and Economics principles and their relevance to Danish contract and tort law. You will actively engage with value-maximizing contracts, relational governance, economic reasoning in adjudication, and the treatment of changed circumstances.

Through close interaction with faculty and peers, you will strengthen your ability to integrate economic analysis into legal method while preserving fairness, legitimacy, and fundamental rule-of-law values.

Contents of the course

Day one The first day focuses on value maximization and relational governance in contract law.
The opening session introduces the logic of value-maximizing contracts and the role of transaction costs in shaping legal arrangements. Through interactive dialogue and a structured mini-negotiation exercise, participants explore how information asymmetries, transaction costs, and institutional constraints influence contract design and value creation.

The second session turns to relational contracting in long-term business relationships. Drawing on both empirical research and practical experience, the faculty examine informal enforcement mechanisms, reputation, and governance structures that reduce reliance on formal legal enforcement. The discussion highlights the implications for lawyers when drafting, negotiating, and interpreting contracts.
The day concludes with an examination of Law and Economics in Danish courts. Participants analyse selected Supreme Court and appellate decisions and engage in role-based exercises as judges and advocates, applying economic reasoning to concrete cases.
Day two The second day shifts to enforcement and systemic perspectives.
Tort law is examined through the lens of Coase and the economic analysis of externalities, focusing on the choice between property rules and liability rules. In case labs, participants analyse liability scenarios and develop arguments for legal rules that promote efficient and socially valuable outcomes.
The final academic session addresses changed circumstances in contract law, including force majeure and the Danish doctrine of basic assumptions. Participants discuss when contractual relief may enhance overall value and how economic reasoning can inform clause design and legal argumentation.
The program concludes with a faculty panel synthesizing insights across contract and tort law and discussing how economic reasoning can strengthen Danish private law while preserving fairness, legitimacy, and rule-of-law principles.
During the course we will explore:

• value maximization and the economic logic of contract design
• transaction costs and information asymmetries in negotiation
• relational governance and informal enforcement in long-term contracts
• the role of economic reasoning in Danish contract adjudication
• tort law analysed through property and liability rules
• force majeure and the doctrine of basic assumptions from an economic perspective
• the balance between efficiency, fairness, and rule-of-law principles.