freedom of contract

Freedom of contract is the ability of parties to bargain and create the terms of their agreement as they desire without outside interference from the government . It is the opposite of government regulation .

In Lochner v. New York , 198 U.S. 45 (1905) , while Lochner argued that he had the right to freely contract with the employees , he was fined for breaking a state law that restricted the number of hours that his workers could work.

[Last reviewed in January of 2023 by the Wex Definitions Team ]

Keywords

• contract law

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