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Category Archives: Equity

Restitution for wrongs and child pornography

February 3, 2010 – 9:01 pm

A friend alerted to me to an interesting case reported in the New York Times involving monetary restitution to a victim of child pornography  who goes by the pseudonym “Amy”.
When she was 8 or 9 years old, Amy’s uncle had filmed her in a series of pornographic photographs known as the “Misty” series. Amy is [...]

By Legal Eagle | Also posted in Children, Human/Civil rights, Law, Restitution, Society, anthony daniels | Tagged , , , , , , | Comments (16)

Confidence and privacy

December 7, 2009 – 9:46 am

I went to an interesting seminar the other day on breach of confidence law. The seminar included a number of speakers and spanned Australian, UK and US law on the subject, as well as a historical consideration of the piecemeal manner in which breach of confidence law developed.
Apparently breach of confidence was a relative latecomer [...]

By Legal Eagle | Also posted in Academia, Free Speech, Intellectual property, Law, Media, Privacy, Public Policy | Tagged , , , , | Comments (2)

O Mistress Mine!

November 9, 2009 – 8:05 pm

I was fascinated to see that the first case under the new s 4AA of the Family Law Act 1975 (Cth) has been settled out of court. According to the recent article in the Herald Sun:
A cheating husband has paid his former lover more than $100,000 under Australia’s new “mistress laws”.
In the first known case [...]

By Legal Eagle | Also posted in Children, Economics, Law, Marriage, Personal liberty, Public Policy | Tagged , , , , , , , | Comments (27)

When is a trust not a trust?

October 19, 2009 – 5:45 pm

Via the Restitution Discussion Group (yes, there really is such a thing), I hear that the Australian High Court has indulged in yet another snark at unjust enrichment. Is it just me, or are these self-righteous little rants getting boring?
The case is Bofinger v Kingsway Group Limited [2009] HCA 44. The issue raised is an [...]

By Legal Eagle | Also posted in Insolvency law, Law, Northern Ireland, Restitution, Wales, scotland | Tagged , , , | Comments (15)

The spirit is willing but the flesh is weak…

May 6, 2009 – 9:06 am

I was at an event for restitution lawyers the other day, when one of the academics present made a good point. She said that she thought restitution lawyers had “tidy minds”. They wanted the law to be tidy. I think she is absolutely correct. The desire is that like cases be treated alike, regardless of [...]

By Legal Eagle | Also posted in Academia, Law, Restitution | Tagged , | Comments (36)

Efficient breach canned by HCA

February 13, 2009 – 8:31 pm

What happens when you sign a contract? How binding is it? Can you force the other side to perform their side of the bargain?
Non-lawyers might be surprised to learn that from the perspective of contractual remedies, the principal remedy is damages, with specific performance of the contractual obligation said to be a secondary remedy when [...]

By Legal Eagle | Also posted in Academia, Economics, Law, Restitution | Tagged , , , | Comments (15)

Investment scheme collapses give rise to equitable and restitutionary claims

January 25, 2009 – 8:21 pm

I must be behind the eight-ball at the moment – how else could I have missed Eoin’s post at Cearta.ie on restitutionary liability and Bernie Madoff’s failed investment schemes?
The Madoff case involves an alleged Ponzi scheme, or a scheme where early investors are actually being paid money received from later investors rather than true dividends. [...]

By Legal Eagle | Also posted in Economics, Law, Restitution | Comments (25)

Breach of confidence

December 12, 2008 – 8:03 am

Love rats, beware. If you decide to humiliate your ex by showing videos or photos of your ex in a compromising position, you may be liable for damages for breach of confidence. This is a result of the Victorian Court of Appeal’s decision in Giller v Procopets [2008] VSCA 236, in which it was decided [...]

By Legal Eagle | Also posted in Law, Personal liberty, Privacy | Comments (16)

Restitution lawyers of Australia, be on notice

November 25, 2008 – 11:30 am

There may be a whole string of cases coming your way?! In news today, it was reported that the Commonwealth Bank online banking has been thrown into chaos:
Turmoil has hit the Commonwealth Bank’s online banking system after it duplicated customer transactions.
The double-up, caused by an overnight processing error, has affected NetBank customers, the bank said [...]

By Legal Eagle | Also posted in Insolvency law, Law, Restitution | Comments (24)

Kirby J takes a parting shot at Equity gurus on High Court

November 22, 2008 – 5:24 pm

In a recent speech delivered at Queensland University of Technology, Kirby J has delivered a rebuke to the Equity gurus on the High Court, namely Gummow and Heydon JJ. The title of the speech itself is stinging enough: ‘Equity’s Australian isolationism’.
Kirby J mounts a three-pronged attack on the approach of the current High Court to [...]

By Legal Eagle | Also posted in Law, Restitution | Comments (4)