A Corrective Justice Account of Disgorgment for Breach of Contract by Analogy with Fiduciary Remedies

A Corrective Justice Account of Disgorgment for Breach of Contract by Analogy with Fiduciary Remedies

Author: Anthony Sangiuliano

Publisher:

Published: 2016

Total Pages: 43

ISBN-13:

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A corrective justice account of a private law remedy attempts to the explain the remedy as giving back to the plaintiff something to which the plaintiff had a prior right that was breached by the defendant's receipt of that thing. It has proven challenging to explain how disgorgement for breach of contract is consistent with corrective justice. This remedy gives to the plaintiff any profit that a defendant received from a third party by breaching a contract with the plaintiff. In this paper, I critique two leading attempts to show how disgorgement for breach of contract is consistent with corrective justice. I argue that these attempts fail, and I suggest that a plausible corrective justice account of disgorgement should be based on something other than the nature of the contractual rights borne by a plaintiff. I then develop an alternative account based on an analogy between disgorgement for breach of contract and disgorgement for breach of fiduciary duty. To do so, I draw on recent scholarship on the consistency of disgorgement for breach of fiduciary with corrective justice and analyze the leading judicial decision on disgorgement for breach of contract by the UK House of Lords in Attorney General v. Blake. I argue that the fiduciary-based account can provide a plausible explanation for how disgorgement effectuates corrective justice by giving back to a plaintiff something to which he had an antecedent right that the defendant violated by profiting from a breach of contract.


Accounting for Profit for Breach of Contract

Accounting for Profit for Breach of Contract

Author: Katy Barnett

Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing

Published: 2012-05-31

Total Pages: 197

ISBN-13: 1847319521

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This book defends the view that an award of an account of profits (or 'disgorgement damages') for breach of contract will sometimes be justifiable, and fits within the orthodox principles and cases in contract law. However there is some confusion as to when such an award should be made. The moral bases for disgorgement damages are deterrence and punishment, which shape the remedy in important ways. Courts are also concerned with vindication of the claimant's performance interest, and it is pivotal in these cases that the claimant cannot procure a substitute performance via an award of damages or specific relief. The book argues that disgorgement damages should be available in two categories of case: 'second sale' cases, where the defendant breaches his contract with the claimant to make a more profitable contract with a third party; and 'agency problem' cases, where the defendant promises the claimant he will not do a certain thing, and the claimant finds it difficult to supervise the performance. Moreover, disgorgement may be full or partial, and 'reasonable fee damages' for breach of contract are best understood as partial disgorgement rather than 'restitutionary damages'. Equitable bars to relief should also be adopted in relation to disgorgement damages, as should allowances for skill and effort. This book will be of interest to contract and commercial lawyers, and will be especially valuable to anyone with an interest in contract remedies and restitution. It draws on case law in a number of common law jurisdictions, primarily England and Wales, and Australia.


Supreme Disgorgement

Supreme Disgorgement

Author: Caprice L. Roberts

Publisher:

Published: 2017

Total Pages: 28

ISBN-13:

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Disgorgement of defendant's wrongful gains is an ancient remedy. It applies across a spectrum of contexts from trademark infringement to fiduciary duties, from common law to statutes, from public to private law. This remedy is not regarded as quintessential in American contract law. That is changing. My earlier work -- as cited by the Supreme Court -- predicted this shift based upon a new rule in the Restatement (Third) of Restitution and Unjust Enrichment. The rule operationalizes disgorgement of profits for opportunistic breaches of contract. This new conceptualization of precedent authorizes a gain-based remedy that exceeds the compensation goals of contract law's preferred, default remedy of expectancy damages.This remedy is bold and will affect the law of contracts, remedies, and restitution. I show, in a companion article, how state and federal courts resolve novel disgorgement requests for breach of contract claims. In the instant article, I examine an unusual endorsement of disgorgement by the Supreme Court sitting in original jurisdiction over the breach of a water-rights compact between states. Harnessing broad powers of equity jurisdiction, the Court adopts a $1.8 million disgorgement award exceeding compensation. It strips part of defendant's profits and stacks onto a compensatory award for losses sustained. Relying on the Restatement (much to Justice Scalia's chagrin), the Court permits disgorgement to deter defendant's knowingly exposing plaintiff to a substantial risk of breach. This provocative application offers a lens through which to explore broader questions: whether, when, and how the disgorgement remedy should apply to breach of contracts, whether public or private. I conclude that disgorgement is a valuable remedy for breach of contract, but judges must exercise reasoned discretion in application to proper facts and restraint in tying the measurement to causation. I also maintain that the inclusion of disgorgement in the stable of remedies broadens the scope of contract law to include inquiries and features typically associated with tort law. As in all of my remedies work, I argue remedies shape right -- here: granting the remedy of disgorgement expands the shape of the underlying contract right in both public and private law.


Disgorgement of Profits

Disgorgement of Profits

Author: Ewoud Hondius

Publisher: Springer

Published: 2015-08-12

Total Pages: 517

ISBN-13: 3319187597

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Disgorgement of profits is not exactly a household word in private law. Particularly in civil law jurisdictions – as opposed to those of the common law – the notion is not well known. What does it stand for? It is best illustrated by examples. One of the best known being the British case of Blake v Attorney General, [2001] 1 AC 268. In which a double spy had been imprisoned by the UK government before escaping and settling in the former Soviet Union. While there wrote a book on his experiences, upon which the UK government claimed the proceeds of the book. The House of Lords, as it then was, allowed the claim on the basis of Blake’s breach of his employment contract. Other examples are the infringement of intellectual property rights, where the damages of the owner are limited, but the profits of the wrongdoer immense. In such cases, the question arises whether the infringing party should be disgorged of his profits. This volume aims at establishing the notion of disgorgement of profits as a keyword in the discourse of private law. It does not purport to answer the question whether or not such damages should or should not be awarded. It does however aim to contribute to the discussion, the arguments in favour and against, and the organisation of the various actions.


Torts and Other Wrongs

Torts and Other Wrongs

Author: John Gardner

Publisher: Oxford University Press

Published: 2019-12-18

Total Pages: 350

ISBN-13: 0192596152

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Torts and other Wrongs is a collection of eleven of the author's essays on the theory of the law of torts and its place in the law more generally. Two new essays accompany nine previously published pieces, a number of which are already established classics of theoretical writing on private law. Together they range across the distinction between torts and other wrongs, the moral significance of outcomes, the nature and role of corrective and distributive justice, the justification


Commercial Remedies: Resolving Controversies

Commercial Remedies: Resolving Controversies

Author: Graham Virgo

Publisher: Cambridge University Press

Published: 2017-08-24

Total Pages: 625

ISBN-13: 1316764559

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The law of commercial remedies raises a number of important doctrinal, theoretical and practical controversies which deserve sustained and rigorous examination. This volume explores such controversies and suggests solutions, which is essential to ensure that the law is defensible, clear and just. With contributions from twenty-three leading academic and practitioner experts, this book addresses significant issues in the law which, taken together, range across the entire remedial jurisdiction as it applies to commercial disputes. The book primarily focuses on the resolution of controversies in the English law of commercial remedies, but recent developments elsewhere are also considered, especially in other common law jurisdictions. The result provides remarkably comprehensive coverage of the field which will be of relevance to academics, students, judges and practitioners.


Formation and Third Party Beneficiaries

Formation and Third Party Beneficiaries

Author: Mindy Chen-Wishart

Publisher: Oxford University Press

Published: 2018-01-19

Total Pages: 634

ISBN-13: 0192535641

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Studies in the Contract Laws of Asia provides an authoritative account of the contract law regimes of selected Asian jurisdictions, including the major centres of commerce where limited critical commentaries have been published in the English language. Each volume in the series aims to offer an insider's perspective into specific areas of contract law - remedies, formation, parties, contents, vitiating factors, change of circumstances, illegality, and public policy - and explores how these diverse jurisdictions address common problems encountered in contractual disputes. A concluding chapter draws out the convergences and divergences, and other themes. All the Asian jurisdictions examined have inherited or adopted the common law or civil law models of European legal systems. Scholars of legal transplant will find a mine of information on how received law has developed after the initial adaptation and transplant process, including the mechanisms of and influences affecting these developments. At the same time, many points of convergence emerge. These provide good starting points for regional harmonization projects. Volume II of this series deals with contract formation and contracts for the benefit of third parties in the laws of China, India, Japan, Korea, Taiwan, Singapore, Malaysia, Hong Kong, Korea, Vietnam, Cambodia, Thailand, Indonesia, and Myanmar. Typically, each jurisdiction is covered in two chapters; the first deals with contract formation, while the second deals with contracts for the benefit of third parties.


Corrective Justice

Corrective Justice

Author: Ernest J. Weinrib

Publisher: Oxford University Press

Published: 2012-09-20

Total Pages: 365

ISBN-13: 0199660646

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Private law governs our most pervasive relationships: the wrongs we do one another, the contracts we make and break, and the property we own. This book analyses the deepest questions about the law's foundations, showing how a distinctive notion of justice, 'corrective justice', describes the special morality intrinsic to private law.


Remedies for Breach of Contract

Remedies for Breach of Contract

Author: Mindy Chen-Wishart

Publisher: Oxford University Press

Published: 2016-02-12

Total Pages: 531

ISBN-13: 0191074411

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Studies in the Contract Laws of Asia provides an authoritative account of the contract law regimes of selected Asian jurisdictions, including the major centres of commerce where until now, limited critical commentaries have been available in the English language. In this new six part series of scholarly essays from leading scholars and commentators, each volume will offer an insider's perspective into specific areas of contract law, including: remedies, formation, parties, contents, vitiating factors, change of circumstances, illegality, and public policy, and will explore how these diverse jurisdictions address common problems encountered in contractual disputes. Concluding each volume will be a closing discussion of the convergences and divergences across the jurisdictions. Volume I of this series examines the remedies for breach of contract in the laws of China, India, Japan, Korea, Taiwan, Singapore, Malaysia, Hong Kong, Korea, and Thailand. Specifically, it addresses the readiness of each legal system in their action to insist that parties perform their obligations; the methods of enforcing the parties' agreed remedies for breach; and the ways in which monetary compensation are awarded. Each jurisdiction is discussed over two chapters; the first chapter will examine the performance remedies and agreed remedies, while the second explores the monetary remedies. A concluding chapter offers a comparative overview.