Contractual Claims For Profit: Liability, Causation And Quantification

Introduction

Commercial ventures are centered on a simple premise: the potential for profit. Historically, ‘profit’ was an intuitive exercise - any exchange ought to improve the position of parties. This intuition came to be meticulously measured in the clay tablets associated with the Ubaid Period¹, the numerical tablets and bullae from the Uruk Period² under the Mesopotamian system for accounting and administration. With data recording deliveries of grain, livestock, oil, metals, etc., mercantile systems began tracking the seasons of production and demand, leading to a stratification of expectations and accountability in trade. Etymologically also, ‘profit’³ means growth, advance, increase or success – conveying a sense of advancement. It is therefore unsurprising that profit is a central organising principle of commercial enterprise and contractual relations.