Sex, Lies, and the Duty to Disclose 47 Arizona Law Review 2005

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47 Ariz. L. Rev. 871 (2005)
Sex, Lies, and the Duty to Disclose

handle is hein.journals/arz47 and id is 883 raw text is:

SEX, LIES, AND THE DUTY TO DISCLOSE

Michelle Oberman*

Introduction ..........................................................................................................872
I. The Narrowest Framing of the Duty to Disclose: The Nineteenth-Century Reign
of Caveat Emptor .................................................................................................874
A. The Common Law Doctrine of Caveat Emptor..........................................874
B. The Expansion of the Affirmative Duty to Disclose...................................876
C. Policy Justifications for an Expansive Duty to Disclose ............................882
1. Arm's-Length Transactions....................................................................882
2. Disclosure Duties in Transactions Between Fiduciaries or Confidants.. 884
II. Deception and Disclosure in Agreements Between Intimates.........................886
A. Negotiating Access to Sexual Intimacy: Deception, Disclosure, and the
Problem of Sexual Fraud.................................................................................887
B. Misrepresentations Regarding One's Fertility and Sexual Health Status ...891
C. Summary.....................................................................................................893
III. Judicial Responses to Contracts Made Between Unmarried Cohabitants:
Winking and Scolding..........................................................................................893
A. Legal Enforcement of Promises Made in the Context of Committed
Relationships...................................................................................................893
B. The Disclosure Problem in Contracts Made in Long-Term Nonmarital
Relationships...................................................................................................897
IV. Contracts Made upon the Dissolution of a Relationship: The Duty to Disclose
in Paternity-Related Settlements ..........................................................................899
A. Common Law Governing Paternity Settlements ........................................900

* Professor of Law, Santa Clara University School of Law. An earlier version
of this paper was presented at the 2004 Law & Society Annual Meeting, at the 2005
Berkeley Conference on Socio-Economics, and at the Santa Clara University School of
Law's Center for Social Justice & Public Service. I am grateful to Katharine Baker, whose
wisdom and guidance nurtures me always. Special thanks also are due to those who
provided extensive comments on drafts of this article: Mary Becker, June Carbone, Joel
Frader, Mark Gergen, Hila Keren, Larry Marshall, Gary Neustadter, and Dick Speidel. In
addition, I was blessed with the help of seemingly tireless research assistants: Kevin Curran,
J.D., DePaul University (2005); Kim Nicol, J.D., Santa Clara University (2005); and Alison
Gorczyca, J.D. candidate, Santa Clara University (2007). The insights and arguments of
Matthew Gray, of the Arizona Law Review, played a vital role in strengthening this piece.
Finally, I am indebted both to Dean Glen Weissenberger, DePaul University College of
Law, and to Dean Donald Polden, Santa Clara University School of Law, for support of my
research.