The Mitigation Principle: Toward a General Theory of Contractual Obligation

Abstract

T HE duty to mitigate is a universally accepted principle of con- tract law requiring that each party exert reasonable efforts to minimize losses whenever intervening events impede contractual objectives."Although applications of the mitigation principle pervade the specific rules of contract, 2 it is startling how many questions remain unanswered as to precisely what efforts the mitigation duty requires and what point in time the obligation arises.For example, under what circumstances does mitigation require an in-