Significance of The Case
Laidlaw has been recognized by U.S. legal scholars as a central case in the history of U.S. contract law. It was the first case in which the Supreme Court adopted the rule of caveat emptor and "was one of the first cases to come before the Court involving a contract for future delivery of a commodity." This is also the first case that starts to articulate a doctrine of forbidding active concealment.
Laidlaw has been cited by 110 different cases, and maintains great importance in U.S. legal scholarship and education (including law school Contracts courses). It has also appeared over a hundred times in law review articles, appellate court briefs, and other academic materials.
Laidlaw has also faced criticism from an economic perspective on the idea that nondisclosure of information that will shortly become public does not encourage overall efficiency because it merely affects distribution. Earlier disclosure could have resulted in more efficient planting decisions by farmers, and nondisclosure only served to enrich Organ.
Trivia: Organ, the vendee, was represented by Francis Scott Key.
Read more about this topic: Laidlaw V. Organ
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