The
Restatement (Second) of the Law of Contracts is a legal treatise from the second series of the
Restatements of the Law, and seeks to inform judges and lawyers about general principles of contract common law. It is one of the best-recognized and frequently cited legal treatises in all of
American jurisprudence. Every first year law student in the United States is exposed to it, and it is a frequently cited
non-binding authority in all of U.S.
common law in the areas of
contracts and commercial transactions. It is a work without peer in terms of overall influence and recognition among the bar and bench, with the possible exception of the
Restatement of Torts. The
American Law Institute began work on the second edition in 1962 and completed it in 1979; the version in use at present has a copyright year of 1981.