Abstract
Practitioners and scholars alike often regard bailment as an arcane and parochial subject despite the fact that a large number of bailment cases still appear before American courts.' This phenomenon is most perplexing considering the prevalence of bailments in modern commercial law cases; the disagreement among jurisdictions and legal scholars as to bailment law's exact scope and the rules governing it; and the fact that statutes governing certain areas of bailment law are still interpreted according to common-law standards. One modern type of bailment that is quite common in cattle country is a grazing lease or agistment arrangement whereby one rancher contracts to pasture and care for another rancher's livestock. Agistment agreements are types of bailments because the rancher caring for the animals usually assumes full control for the animals' well-being during the term of the contract.4 Also, the rancher is usually expected to return the animals in the same condition in which he received them or be prepared to answer for their loss or damage.
Recommended Citation
Bouley, Sara E.
(1996)
"Where's the Beef? Allocating the
Burden of Proof in Bailment
Agreements Involving Missing
Cattle Grazed on Public Rangeland:
Cornia v. Wilcox,"
Utah Law Review: Vol. 1996:
No.
3, Article 5.
Available at:
https://dc.law.utah.edu/ulr/vol1996/iss3/5