If a breach of contract is both material and opportunistic, the injured promisee has a claim in restitution to the profit realized by the defaulting promisor as a result of the breach. Liability in restitution with disgorgement of profit is an alternative to liability for contract damages measured by injury to the promisee. Commentators have described section 39 's adoption as the equivalent of a "quiet revolution" that "is breathtaking in its potential transformation of the traditional contractual landscape.” Caprice L. Roberts, Restitutionary Disgorgement as a Moral Compass for Breach of Contract, 77 U. Cin. L. Rev 991, 993 (2009). What is so revolutionary about this provision? How does it differ from the traditional approach to contract …show more content…
Liability in restitution with disgorgement of profit is an alternative to liability for contract damages measured by injury to the promisee.” (2011) I fully agree! As Richard Laycock writes in his article “Restoring Restitution to the Canon” which appeared in the Michigan Law Review states, “This new Restatement should be on every litigator 's bookshelf, and a broad set of transactional lawyers and legal academics would also do well to become familiar with it.” (2012) It is my opinion that the law as currently written (both legislative and common) does not provide the protections for the aggrieved as I assume was envisioned in its intent. For a rich party to merely pay a reset damage in order to capitalize (perhaps in light of market changes or new information) in breaching a valid agreement seeing it as merely a cost of enrichment is an affront to the stability of contract law and enforcement. The ability to award damages for “profit realized” would do well to cement the theory that an agreement is enforceable and legally binding. This is good for business internationally as our global markets will know that an agreement formed in the United States will be honored and the civil laws guaranteeing its enforcement has
The decision in Equuscorp is significant, as it has made clear several principles that were once ambiguous under Australian law. It ratifies that restitutionary remedies are unavailable for a claim for money had and received where recovery would reduce coherence in the law. Furthermore, Equuscorp has confirmed that a bare cause of action can be assigned where the assignee has a genuine commercial interest in its enforcement.
Damages are a fundamental principle in the American legal system. However, a number of recent cases in the United States have sparked a debate on the issue, the most famous one being the “hot coffee lawsuit”1. In 1994, Stella Liebeck bought coffee at a McDonald’s restaurant, spilt it, and was severely burnt. She sued the McDonald’s company, received $160,000 in compensatory damages, and $2.9 million in punitive damages. A judge then reduced the punitive damages to $480,000. The final out-of-court settlement was of approximately $500,000. For many, this case is frivolous (meaning that the plaintiff’s prospects of being successful were low or inexistent), but it really highlights the question of excessive punitive damages compared to the damage suffered and its causes.
Suppose that the contract had no liquidated damages provision (or the court refused to enforce it) and X Entertainment breached the contract. The breach caused the release of the film to be delayed until the fall. Could Bruno seek consequential (special) damages for lost profits from the summer movie market in that situation? Explain. P.223-224
Cross, Frank B., and Roger LeRoy Miller. "Ch. 13: Strict Liability and Product Liability." The legal environment of business: text and cases, 8th edition. Mason, Ohio: Cengage Learning Custom Solutions, 2012. 294-297. Print.
Having evaluated the current state of English contract law, mainly made up of piecemeal solutions, it can be seen that despite being satisfactory and doing its job, there still remain gaps within the law of contract where unfairness is not dealt with. Moreover, due to the ad hoc nature of those piecemeal solutions, the latter have often produced inconsistent justice and have manifested cases of unfairness. Hence, “a relatively small number of respected Justices have endeavored to draw attention to the fact that the application of a general principle might be useful and even necessary in English law.”
...he certainty of restitution, by requiring monetary payment, takes the profit out of crime (Carson).
64). Retributive justice is based on a philosophy of “an eye for an eye.” Retributive shows disapproval of criminal violation, validate existing laws and make criminals pay for their criminal
Dignan, J. (2007) “The victim in restorative justice.” In Sandra Walklate (ed.) Handbook of Victims and Victimology (chapter 12, pp. 309-331). Cullompton: Willan.
In order to critically assess the approach of the courts in allowing damages for pure economic loss in cases of negligence. One must first outline what pure economic loss is and what it consists off. Pure economic loss can be defined as financial loss or damage to one party caused by another party due to their negligence however the negligent act that is carried out is ‘purely’ economic and has no relation to any physical damage caused to any person or property. Numerous cases illustrate pure economic loss and losses that are deemed to be ‘purely economic’ are demonstrated under the Accidents Act 1976.
...‘Consideration: Practical benefit and the Emperor’s new clothes’ in Beatson and Friedmann (eds). Good Faith and Fault in Contract Law (Oxford University Press, 1995);
dawn of the formal justice system Some of the more moderen versions of restorative justice
Examples may include simple liquidated debts, damages for non-performance of a contract, claims for differences under contracts held by both parties etc.
Damages – if the other party cause’s drastic damages that cost the other party or affect it negatively than the other party can sue and take them to court of law, and the court may claim that the affected party may be paid and be taken back to its original position as it was
Chapter 19. p413. John G.Fleming [4] P419. Textbook on Torts 8th edition. Michael A.Jones [5] Vicarious Liability for Employers. Andrew Scott-Howman.
This case mentioned below is a fine example of understanding the Law of Contract in a better manner. (Gerald, 2014).