Short Course, hosted by Delta Innovation
HLS2X: Contract Law: From Trust to Promise to Contract.
The course will feature a combination of video instruction from former Harvard Law Professor Charles Fried, facilitated discussions, and exercises. It will take place over four evenings at the Delta Innovation Workspace. No knowledge of contract law is needed. No preregistration, just show up.
Monday, Sept 29
6pm-8pm
DIW Community Room
This session introduces what contracts are by exploring the underlying concepts of promise, trust, and bargain. It explains how ordinary promises differ from those enforceable by law, focusing on what the law requires for something to count as a contract: offer, acceptance, mutual intent, and exchange (consideration). Students learn how courts assess whether the parties intended to create legal relations, and what exactly constitutes a valid offer and acceptance. These foundations are essential for all later topics in contract law.
Tuesday, Sept 30
6pm-8pm
The Commons @ DIW
After building the foundations, this session examines the many ways contracts can go wrong: what happens when promises are one-sided or illusory; how mistakes (mutual, unilateral), misrepresentation, fraud, and frustration can undermine the enforceability of a contract. The session looks at how the law treats defective promises or promises made under bad assumptions or misleading circumstances, and when the courts will set aside or refuse to enforce a contract because of these defects.
Wednesday, Oct 1
6pm-8pm
The Commons @ DIW
This session delves into how courts interpret the terms of contracts, resolve ambiguities, and enforce promises. It covers how contract terms are read (parol evidence, implied vs express terms), what limits exist on enforcement (e.g. illegality, public policy), and how breaches are remedied. Students will see how damages are computed, when specific performance is appropriate (i.e. forcing someone to do what was promised), and when parties may be excused from performance legally.
Thursday, Oct 2
6pm-8pm
DIW Community Room
The final session looks beyond just the original parties to a contract: how third parties may gain rights (or obligations), how agency works (one person acting for another), and how assignments or delegations of obligations and rights operate. It also places contract law in the larger institutional and regulatory context: partnerships, corporations, and government regulation. This gives students a sense of how contract law functions in business, organizational, and regulatory settings.
Course Leader
David Olscamp
David has spent the last decade advising boards and senior management teams. He is a lawyer and finance professional, a consensus builder, and an expert in all things small business. He joined Delta Innovation in May 2025.
Education
BA, Emory University
JD, Vanderbilt Law
MBA, The Wharton School
Bar admission
New York