Larry David on the Contract of Hire (Locatio-Conductio)
My undergraduate Jurisprudence students this term are now studying the Roman law of obligations. We just covered the basics of the Contract of Hire (Locatio-Conductio). I like to use a version of the example of the tailor used by Justinian in Inst.3.24.1 et seq. (cp. Inst.4.1.15), but I update it with the example of dry cleaning. Larry David used a version of that example in Curb Your Enthusiasm in a dialogue with his guest, California Sen. Barbara Boxer, concerning an unwritten law of exchange (YouTube links below): The background: Larry drops off his Yankees jersey with the cleaners. The cleaners mistakenly gave the jersey to another customer, and now he feels he has no recourse (of course, civil law does give him a remedy): Later in the same episode, Larry and his friend, Leon, discover that other customer who now is in possession of the jersey (pardon the language). They take matters into their own hands - which is precisely what you should not do in t...
