ContractsProf Blog

"Constructive Tuesday" Top Ten - Contracts & Commercial Law Top SSRN Downloads for March 27, 2024

Welcome to Wednesday! Or as we're calling it today in Contract-land, "Constructive Tuesday." Not even the forces of time itself will prevent our dive into the contact and commercial law scholarship burning up the charts. Let's check out what's hot in SSRN this week:

 

Top Downloads For:

Contracts & Commercial Law eJournal

Recent Top Papers (60 days)

As of: 27 Jan 2024 - 27 Mar 2024

Rank	Paper	Downloads
1.	Consequential Damages: Alien Vomit or Intelligent Design? Tara Chowdhury, Faith Chudkowski, Amanda Gray Dixon, Rishabh Sharma, Madison Sherrill, Hadar Tanne, Stephen J. Choi and Mitu Gulati University of Virginia - School of Law, University of Virginia - School of Law, The Becket Fund for Religious Liberty, University of Virginia (UVA) School of Law, Hunton Andrews Kurth LLP, Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer - Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer LLP, New York University School of Law and University of Virginia School of Law	241
2.	The Smart Contracts Trilemma Bahadir Köksal and Roee Sarel University of Hamburg - Institute of Law and Economics and Institute of Law and Economics, University of Hamburg	204
3.	Reputation Reconsidered James Gibson University of Richmond School of Law	195
4.	Consumerist Waste: Looking Beyond Repair Roy Shapira Stigler Center, University of Chicago Booth School of Business	148
5.	Caveat Lector: Large Language Models in Legal Practice Eliza Mik The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK) - Faculty of Law	143
6.	Income Pools for Superstar Markets Timothy Chan, Ningyuan Chen and Craig Fernandes University of Toronto, Mechanical and Industrial Engineering Department, University of Toronto - Rotman School of Management and University of Toronto, Mechanical and Industrial Engineering Department	127
7.	The Inequality of Bargaining Power Principle Rebecca Stone University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) - School of Law	118
8.	From Smart Legal Contracts to Contracts on Blockchain: An Empirical Investigation Fabio Bassan and Maddalena Rabitti Roma Tre University, Rome, Italy and Roma Tre University, Rome, Italy	112
9.	The Supreme Court 'Pulled a Brodie': Swift and Erie in a Commercial Law Perspective Todd J. Zywicki George Mason University - Antonin Scalia Law School	101
10.	Oscar Law Reid K. Weisbord and Jordan Bondurant Rutgers Law School and Rutgers School of Law, Students	96

 

Top Downloads For:

Law & Society: Private Law - Contracts eJournal

Recent Top Papers (60 days)

As of: 27 Jan 2024 - 27 Mar 2024

Rank	Paper	Downloads
1.	Consequential Damages: Alien Vomit or Intelligent Design? Tara Chowdhury, Faith Chudkowski, Amanda Gray Dixon, Rishabh Sharma, Madison Sherrill, Hadar Tanne, Stephen J. Choi and Mitu Gulati University of Virginia - School of Law, University of Virginia - School of Law, The Becket Fund for Religious Liberty, University of Virginia (UVA) School of Law, Hunton Andrews Kurth LLP, Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer - Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer LLP, New York University School of Law and University of Virginia School of Law	241
2.	The Smart Contracts Trilemma Bahadir Köksal and Roee Sarel University of Hamburg - Institute of Law and Economics and Institute of Law and Economics, University of Hamburg	204
3.	Reputation Reconsidered James Gibson University of Richmond School of Law	195
4.	Wearable AI, Bystander Notice, and the Question of Privacy Frictions Zahra Takhshid University of Denver Sturm College of Law	171
5.	Consumerist Waste: Looking Beyond Repair Roy Shapira Stigler Center, University of Chicago Booth School of Business	148
6.	Classical Liberalism and Corporate Law Robert T. Miller University of Iowa College of Law	127
7.	The Inequality of Bargaining Power Principle Rebecca Stone University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) - School of Law	118
8.	NIL Enforcement Preemption Josh Lens Recreation and Sport Management Program	88
9.	Emergency Arbitration in India: a Need for Legislation Implementation Nandini Kabra Independent	79
10.	Private Law's Choice of Private Law Andrew S. Gold Brooklyn Law School	79

 

Tuesday Top Ten - Contracts & Commercial Law Top SSRN Downloads for March 19, 2024

Top Downloads For:

Contracts & Commercial Law eJournal

Recent Top Papers (60 days)

As of: 19 Jan 2024 - 19 Mar 2024

Rank	Paper	Downloads
1.	Debt Tokens Diane Lourdes Dick, Christopher K. Odinet and Andrea Tosato The University of Iowa College of Law, University of Iowa - College of Law and University of Nottingham, School of Law	3,434
2.	Consequential Damages: Alien Vomit or Intelligent Design? Tara Chowdhury, Faith Chudkowski, Amanda Gray Dixon, Rishabh Sharma, Madison Sherrill, Hadar Tanne, Stephen J. Choi and Mitu Gulati University of Virginia - School of Law, University of Virginia - School of Law, The Becket Fund for Religious Liberty, University of Virginia (UVA) School of Law, Hunton Andrews Kurth LLP, Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer - Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer LLP, New York University School of Law and University of Virginia School of Law	201
3.	Reputation Reconsidered James Gibson University of Richmond School of Law	180
4.	The Smart Contracts Trilemma Bahadir Köksal and Roee Sarel University of Hamburg - Institute of Law and Economics and Institute of Law and Economics, University of Hamburg	172
5.	Consumerist Waste: Looking Beyond Repair Roy Shapira Stigler Center, University of Chicago Booth School of Business	144
6.	Commercial Boilerplate: A Review and Research Agenda Robert E. Scott, Stephen J. Choi and Mitu Gulati Columbia University - Law School, New York University School of Law and University of Virginia School of Law	141
7.	Income Pools for Superstar Markets Timothy Chan, Ningyuan Chen and Craig Fernandes University of Toronto, Mechanical and Industrial Engineering Department, University of Toronto - Rotman School of Management and University of Toronto, Mechanical and Industrial Engineering Department	122
8.	The Inequality of Bargaining Power Principle Rebecca Stone University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) - School of Law	113
9.	From Smart Legal Contracts to Contracts on Blockchain: An Empirical Investigation Fabio Bassan and Maddalena Rabitti Roma Tre University, Rome, Italy and Roma Tre University, Rome, Italy	107
10.	The Supreme Court 'Pulled a Brodie': Swift and Erie in a Commercial Law Perspective Todd J. Zywicki George Mason University - Antonin Scalia Law School	93

 

Top Downloads For:

Law & Society: Private Law - Contracts eJournal

Recent Top Papers (60 days)

As of: 19 Jan 2024 - 19 Mar 2024

Rank	Paper	Downloads
1.	Debt Tokens Diane Lourdes Dick, Christopher K. Odinet and Andrea Tosato The University of Iowa College of Law, University of Iowa - College of Law and University of Nottingham, School of Law	3,434
2.	Consequential Damages: Alien Vomit or Intelligent Design? Tara Chowdhury, Faith Chudkowski, Amanda Gray Dixon, Rishabh Sharma, Madison Sherrill, Hadar Tanne, Stephen J. Choi and Mitu Gulati University of Virginia - School of Law, University of Virginia - School of Law, The Becket Fund for Religious Liberty, University of Virginia (UVA) School of Law, Hunton Andrews Kurth LLP, Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer - Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer LLP, New York University School of Law and University of Virginia School of Law	201
3.	Reputation Reconsidered James Gibson University of Richmond School of Law	180
4.	The Smart Contracts Trilemma Bahadir Köksal and Roee Sarel University of Hamburg - Institute of Law and Economics and Institute of Law and Economics, University of Hamburg	172
5.	Wearable AI, Bystander Notice, and the Question of Privacy Frictions Zahra Takhshid University of Denver Sturm College of Law	164
6.	Consumerist Waste: Looking Beyond Repair Roy Shapira Stigler Center, University of Chicago Booth School of Business	144
7.	Commercial Boilerplate: A Review and Research Agenda Robert E. Scott, Stephen J. Choi and Mitu Gulati Columbia University - Law School, New York University School of Law and University of Virginia School of Law	141
8.	Classical Liberalism and Corporate Law Robert T. Miller University of Iowa College of Law	113
9.	The Inequality of Bargaining Power Principle Rebecca Stone University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) - School of Law	113
10.	Private Law's Choice of Private Law Andrew S. Gold Brooklyn Law School	77

 

Tuesday Top Ten - Contracts & Commercial Law Top SSRN Downloads for March 12, 2024

Top Downloads For:

Contracts & Commercial Law eJournal

Recent Top Papers (60 days)

As of: 12 Jan 2024 - 12 Mar 2024

Rank	Paper	Downloads
1.	Debt Tokens Diane Lourdes Dick, Christopher K. Odinet and Andrea Tosato The University of Iowa College of Law, University of Iowa - College of Law and University of Nottingham, School of Law	3,419
2.	Decentralised Autonomous Organizations: Targeting the Potential Beyond the Hype Oscar Borgogno and Edoardo D. Martino Bank of Italy and University of Amsterdam - University of Amsterdam Faculty of Law	278
3.	The Smart Contracts Trilemma Bahadir Köksal and Roee Sarel University of Hamburg - Institute of Law and Economics and Institute of Law and Economics, University of Hamburg	166
4.	Reputation Reconsidered James Gibson University of Richmond School of Law	152
5.	Consumerist Waste: Looking Beyond Repair Roy Shapira Stigler Center, University of Chicago Booth School of Business	131
6.	Commercial Boilerplate: A Review and Research Agenda Robert E. Scott, Stephen J. Choi and Mitu Gulati Columbia University - Law School, New York University School of Law and University of Virginia School of Law	122
7.	Income Pools for Superstar Markets Timothy Chan, Ningyuan Chen and Craig Fernandes University of Toronto, Mechanical and Industrial Engineering Department, University of Toronto - Rotman School of Management and University of Toronto, Mechanical and Industrial Engineering Department	120
8.	The Predilection for Contract in Governing Digital Networks: Micro-Management’s Face Off with Accountability Lee A. Bygrave Norwegian Research Center for Computers and Law - Law Faculty, University of Oslo	116
9.	The Inequality of Bargaining Power Principle Rebecca Stone University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) - School of Law	108
10.	From Smart Legal Contracts to Contracts on Blockchain: An Empirical Investigation Fabio Bassan and Maddalena Rabitti Roma Tre University, Rome, Italy and Roma Tre University, Rome, Italy	104

 

Top Downloads For:

Law & Society: Private Law - Contracts eJournal

Recent Top Papers (60 days)

As of: 12 Jan 2024 - 12 Mar 2024

Rank	Paper	Downloads
1.	Debt Tokens Diane Lourdes Dick, Christopher K. Odinet and Andrea Tosato The University of Iowa College of Law, University of Iowa - College of Law and University of Nottingham, School of Law	3,419
2.	The Smart Contracts Trilemma Bahadir Köksal and Roee Sarel University of Hamburg - Institute of Law and Economics and Institute of Law and Economics, University of Hamburg	166
3.	Wearable AI, Bystander Notice, and the Question of Privacy Frictions Zahra Takhshid University of Denver Sturm College of Law	160
4.	Reputation Reconsidered James Gibson University of Richmond School of Law	152
5.	Commercial Boilerplate: A Review and Research Agenda Robert E. Scott, Stephen J. Choi and Mitu Gulati Columbia University - Law School, New York University School of Law and University of Virginia School of Law	122
6.	The Inequality of Bargaining Power Principle Rebecca Stone University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) - School of Law	108
7.	Private Law's Choice of Private Law Andrew S. Gold Brooklyn Law School	73
8.	What's The Use? The Structural Flaw Undermining Warhol v. Goldsmith Peter Karol UNH Franklin Pierce School of Law	65
9.	Classical Liberalism and Corporate Law Robert T. Miller University of Iowa College of Law	60
10.	Emergency Arbitration in India: a Need for Legislation Implementation Nandini Kabra Independent	54

Hiatus from Blogging

A combination of the crush of the middle of the semester and family obligations involving international travel move me to take a month away from the blog.  I may pop in from time to time if posts fall into my lap, but I ask you to adjust your expectations of the blog to the lowest possible setting.

Tuesday Top Ten - Contracts & Commercial Law Top SSRN Downloads for March 5, 2024

Top Downloads For:

Contracts & Commercial Law eJournal

Recent Top Papers (60 days)

As of: 05 Jan 2024 - 05 Mar 2024

Rank	Paper	Downloads
1.	Debt Tokens Diane Lourdes Dick, Christopher K. Odinet and Andrea Tosato The University of Iowa College of Law, University of Iowa - College of Law and University of Nottingham, School of Law	3,399
2.	Decentralised Autonomous Organizations: Targeting the Potential Beyond the Hype Oscar Borgogno and Edoardo D. Martino Bank of Italy and University of Amsterdam - University of Amsterdam Faculty of Law	205
3.	The Smart Contracts Trilemma Bahadir Köksal and Roee Sarel University of Hamburg - Institute of Law and Economics and Institute of Law and Economics, University of Hamburg	155
4.	Reputation Reconsidered James Gibson University of Richmond School of Law	136
5.	Consumerist Waste: Looking Beyond Repair Roy Shapira Stigler Center, University of Chicago Booth School of Business	122
6.	Introduction to The Cambridge Handbook of Private Law and Artificial Intelligence Ernest Lim and Phillip Morgan National University of Singapore (NUS) - Faculty of Law and University of York - York Law School	118
7.	The Predilection for Contract in Governing Digital Networks: Micro-Management’s Face Off with Accountability Lee A. Bygrave Norwegian Research Center for Computers and Law - Law Faculty, University of Oslo	116
8.	Commercial Boilerplate: A Review and Research Agenda Robert E. Scott, Stephen J. Choi and Mitu Gulati Columbia University - Law School, New York University School of Law and University of Virginia School of Law	113
9.	Income Pools for Superstar Markets Timothy Chan, Ningyuan Chen and Craig Fernandes University of Toronto, Mechanical and Industrial Engineering Department, University of Toronto - Rotman School of Management and University of Toronto, Mechanical and Industrial Engineering Department	111
10.	The Inequality of Bargaining Power Principle Rebecca Stone University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) - School of Law	98

 

Top Downloads For:

Law & Society: Private Law - Contracts eJournal

Recent Top Papers (60 days)

As of: 05 Jan 2024 - 05 Mar 2024

Rank	Paper	Downloads
1.	Debt Tokens Diane Lourdes Dick, Christopher K. Odinet and Andrea Tosato The University of Iowa College of Law, University of Iowa - College of Law and University of Nottingham, School of Law	3,399
2.	The Smart Contracts Trilemma Bahadir Köksal and Roee Sarel University of Hamburg - Institute of Law and Economics and Institute of Law and Economics, University of Hamburg	155
3.	Wearable AI, Bystander Notice, and the Question of Privacy Frictions Zahra Takhshid University of Denver Sturm College of Law	155
4.	Reputation Reconsidered James Gibson University of Richmond School of Law	136
5.	Commercial Boilerplate: A Review and Research Agenda Robert E. Scott, Stephen J. Choi and Mitu Gulati Columbia University - Law School, New York University School of Law and University of Virginia School of Law	113
6.	The Inequality of Bargaining Power Principle Rebecca Stone University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) - School of Law	98
7.	Private Law's Choice of Private Law Andrew S. Gold Brooklyn Law School	73
8.	Legal strategy for commercial hostage-taking and business exit bans Jack Wroldsen California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo	64
9.	What's The Use? The Structural Flaw Undermining Warhol v. Goldsmith Peter Karol UNH Franklin Pierce School of Law	57
10.	High-Status Versus Low-Status Stakeholders H. Justin Pace Western Carolina University - College of Business	50

What Batch Arbitration Looks Like

Ben Davis of University of Toledo (right) has called to our attention the language relating to arbitration in Roku's new terms of service.

It is unbelievably long and complicated.  We note, first, the ludicrously specific instructions for opting out (Section 1(L)): 

L. 30-Day Right to Opt Out. You have the right to opt out of arbitration by sending written notice of your decision to opt out to the following address by mail: General Counsel, Roku Inc., 1701 Junction Court, Suite 100, San Jose, CA 95112 within 30 days of you first becoming subject to these Dispute Resolution Terms. Such notice must include the name of each person opting out and contact information for each such person, the specific product models, software, or services used that are at issue, the email address that you used to set up your Roku account (if you have one), and, if applicable, a copy of your purchase receipt. For clarity, opt-out notices submitted via any method other than mail (including email) will not be effective. If you send timely written notice containing the required information in accordance with this Section 1(L), then neither party will be required to arbitrate the Claims between them.

Why mail, Roku?  Why not carrier pigeon?  What happens if Roku updates its terms?  Does the user have to keep on top of changes in terms of service and opt out anew with each iteration of the arbitration provision?  And what if you update your service or the software itself updates.  Does that require a separate trip to the post office?

More striking is the language on batch arbitration, a topic we discussed previously here, and which Roku calls "mass arbitration." 

K. Mass Arbitrations. If 25 or more Claimant Notices are received by a party within 180 days of the first Claimant Notice that the party received, and all such Claimant Notices raise similar Claims and have the same or coordinated counsel, then these Claims will be considered “Mass Arbitrations.” You or Roku may advise the other if you or Roku believe that the Claims at issue are Mass Arbitrations, and disputes over whether a Claim meets the definition of “Mass Arbitrations” will be decided by the arbitration provider as an administrative matter. To the extent either party is asserting the same Claim as other persons and are represented by common or coordinated counsel, that party waives any objection that the joinder of all such persons is impracticable.

Mass Arbitrations may only be filed in arbitration as permitted by the process set forth below. Applicable statutes of limitations will be tolled for Claims asserted in a Mass Arbitration from the time a compliant Claimant Notice has been received by a party until these Dispute Resolution Terms permit such Mass Arbitration to be filed in arbitration or court.

Initial Bellwether: The bellwether process set forth in this section will not proceed until counsel representing the Mass Arbitrations has advised the other party in writing that all or substantially all the Claimant Notices for the Mass Arbitrations have been submitted.

After that point, counsel for the parties will select 20 Mass Arbitrations to proceed in arbitration as a bellwether to allow each side to test the merits of its arguments. Each side will select 10 claimants who have provided compliant Claimant Notices for this purpose, and only those chosen cases may be filed with the arbitration provider. You and Roku acknowledge that resolution of some Mass Arbitrations will be delayed by this bellwether process. Any remaining Mass Arbitrations shall not be filed or deemed filed in arbitration, nor shall any arbitration fees be assessed in connection with those Claims, unless and until they are selected to be filed in individual arbitration proceedings as set out in this Section 1(K).

A single arbitrator will preside over each Mass Arbitration chosen for a bellwether proceeding, and only one Mass Arbitration may be assigned to each arbitrator as part of a bellwether process unless the parties agree otherwise.

Mediation: Once the arbitrations that are part of the bellwether process have concluded (or sooner if the claimants and the other party agree), counsel for the parties must engage in a single mediation of all remaining Mass Arbitrations, with the mediator’s fee paid by Roku. Counsel for the claimants and the other party must agree on a mediator within 30 days after the conclusion of the last bellwether arbitration. If counsel for the claimants and the other party cannot agree on a mediator within 30 days, the arbitration provider will appoint a mediator as an administrative matter. All parties will cooperate for the purpose of ensuring that the mediation is scheduled as quickly as practicable after the mediator is appointed.

Remaining Claims: If the mediation does not yield a resolution of all remaining Mass Arbitrations, the requirement to arbitrate in these Dispute Resolution Terms will no longer apply to Mass Arbitrations for which a compliant Claimant Notice was received by the other party but that were not resolved in the bellwether proceedings. Such Mass Arbitrations released from the requirement to arbitrate must be resolved by bench trial in court in accordance with Section 4.

If Mass Arbitrations released from the requirement to arbitrate are brought in court, they are subject to a waiver to jury trial by both parties. Claimants may seek class treatment, but to the fullest extent allowed by applicable law, the class sought may comprise only the claimants in Mass Arbitrations for which a compliant Claimant Notice was received by the other party. Any party may contest class certification at any stage of the litigation and on any available basis.

Courts will have authority to enforce the bellwether and mediation processes defined in this section and may enjoin the filing of lawsuits or arbitration demands not made in compliance with these processes.

Welcome to the future, Roku Users.  Enjoy your viewing.

Musk v. Altman: The Breach of Contract Claims

Just a quick one here.

Elon Musk rides again.  This one is much more up to his standards.  It is bold.  It is brash.  It seems pious and public-interested, yet also incredibly self-serving, hypocritical, self-aggrandizing, and vituperative.  He is suing OpenAI and its principals, Sam Altman and Greg Brockman, for breach of contract, promissory estoppel breach of fiduciary duty, unfair competition, and he is seeking an accounting.  I will limit myself here to the breach of contract and promissory estoppel claims.

According to the complaint, Mr. Musk provided tens of millions of dollars to OpenAI from 2015-2020 in return for a promise that the venture would be non-profit and open source.  It is now neither.*  Mr. Musk cites to various representations that OpenAI made over the years -- about how it was going to work for the betterment of humankind -- and it references a "Founding Agreement."  However, the three documents attached as exhibits to the complaint do not include any such agreement.  Rather, they include OpenAI's Certificate of Incorporation (in Delaware of all places!), an e-mail exchange that is clearly a statement of future intentions, and an OpenAI "blog" (whatever that is) from 2015.  If there was a contract between Mr. Musk and OpenAI setting out conditions for the use of his funds, one would expect it to be attached to the complaint.  Perhaps in the amended complaint?

With respect to this claim and his promissory estoppel claim arising out of the same factual allegations, Mr. Musk seeks unspecified damages but also specific performance of the alleged contractual or non-contractual promises.  The former seems like a doable settlement offer.  OpenAI and its buddies at Microsoft could refund Mr. Musk his paltry tens-of-millions-of-dollars investment and neither party would notice it any more than a shift in the breeze from the north to north-northwest.  As to specific performance, that's a big ask.  I don't see a court ordering a company to work for the betterment of humankind.  

If any court were to do so, it would be nice (but really surprising) if SCOTUS did so in about an hour by allowing states to take insurrectionists off their ballots.

*Technically, OpenAI is still a non-profit, but it created a wholly-owned subsidiary, OpenAI Global, LLC, which at one point had a valuation of $86 billion, and which expects to produce returns on investments for both employees and outside investors.

Friday Frivolity: Elon Musk, This Is Not up to Your Standards

 Several of my students shared the same story with me.  Ariel Zilber, writing in The NY Post, provides the basics:

• Corporation places a large order with a bakery for mini pies.
• Corporation then contacts the bakery to double the order. 
• Corporation then cancels the order by text  just as the pies are about to be sent out.
• Bake shop claims $16,000 in losses on the order
• CEO of the corporation (depicted at right, image by DALL-E) promises to "make things good" with the bakery.

Not much to add, beyond the fact that the corporation is Tesla, and the CEO is Elon Musk.

At first, I didn't see much potential in the hypo.  Tesla made a contract; Tesla breached the contract.  Tesla must pay damages.  Making things good with the bakery is a simple matter of paying for the pies that Tesla ordered, less any mitigation.  And since you are Tesla and this is a local bakery, why not just pay $16,000? As contracts hypos go, Mr. Musk, I expect better from you.  Remember that time you promised to buy Twitter and then pretended that it was all just a ploy to get information about the percentage of bot accounts on Twitter? 

Ah, good times. 

A few wrinkles might make this into a worthy hypo.  First, let's assume (counterfactually, apparently) that the original order and the doubled order were done by telephone and there is no electronic record.  Is the text message a sufficient writing to evidence the transaction?  According to the Post, the text read as follows: "It unfortunately sounds like we will be changing plans and will not be needing this order. Thank you so much for your support. I appreciate it."  Seems like that message must be part of a text string that provides the referent for "this order."  If so, we likely have a writing.  If not, do we have specially manufactured goods?

On that point, and also relevant to mitigation, Richard Pollina, author of another NY Post article, adds the following information.  As news of Tesla's breach spread, local residents shows up "in droves" to snatch up the pies.  If she had 4000 pies at $4/pie, it seems like the owner could have mitigated her damages by re-selling those same pies at $6/pie.  The owner also said that her business has tripled since news of the breach got out.  Is that relevant to the calculation of her damages? She also said that, notwithstanding Mr. Musk's promise to 
"make things good," she has not heard from him.

Side note on the efficient use of journalistic resources: Do we really need two NY Post reporters on the Tesla pie-order beat?  Even Taylor Swift only has one dedicated reporter per news outlet. 

UPDATE: David Propper, yes a third NY Post reporter, provides the following update.  Tesla paid the bakery $2000 and also offered to place an order for Women's History month.  The bakery responded that it was too booked up with orders to provide pies to Tesla.  Also, it asked, "Good Grief!  Who do you think I am?"