In Patel v Mirza [2016] UKSC 42, nine justices of the Supreme Court of England and Wales decided in favour of a restitutionary award in response to an unjust enrichment, despite the illegal transaction on which that enrichment was based. Whilst the result was reached unanimously, the reasoning could be said to have divided the Court. Lord Toulson, Lady Hale, Lord Kerr, Lord Wilson, Lord Hodge and Lord Neuberger favoured a discretionary approach, but their mode of reasoning was described as 'revolutionary' by Lord Sumption (at [261]), who outlined in contrast a more rule-based means of dealing with the issue; a method with which Lord Mance and Lord Clarke broadly agreed. The decision is detailed and complex, and its implications for several areas of the law are considerable. Significantly, the reliance principle from Tinsley v Milligan [1994] 1 AC 340 has been discarded, as has the rule in Parkinson v College of Ambulance Ltd [1925] KB 1. Patel v Mirza, therefore, can fairly be described as one of the most important judgments in general private law for a generation, and it can be expected to have ramifications for the application of the illegality doctrine across a wide range of disciplinary areas. Unless there is legislative intervention, which does not seem likely at the present time, Patel v Mirza is set to be of enduring significance. This collection will provide a crucial set of theoretical and practical perspectives on the illegality defence in English private law. All of the authors are well established in their respective fields. The timing of the book means that it will be unusually well placed as the 'go to' work on this subject, for legal practitioners and for scholars.

The Law of Obligations in Central and Southeast Europe examines the new codifications, reforms, and other recent developments in Central and Southeast Europe which have significantly modernized the law of obligations in the last two decades, focusing particularly on the legal systems of Poland, Czech Republic, Slovak Republic, Hungary, Slovenia, Croatia, Serbia, and Turkey. With chapters authored by prominent academics and promising young legal scholars, this book discusses the results of the modernizations and describes the legislative reforms of the law of obligations that are underway or are discussed and advocated for in the countries of Central and Southeast Europe. Divergences of the new civil codes and other legislative acts from earlier legal solutions are identified and the rationale behind these departures is analysed, as well as the introduction of the new legal institutes in the law of obligations in these parts of the world. The Introduction provides a concise country-by-country overview of the recodification, modernization, and reform of the law of obligations in Central and Southeast Europe. In Part I, chapters discuss the process of recodification in the Slovak Republic, Czech Republic, Poland, and Hungary, with focus on the main novelties in their contract and tort law. The chapters in Part II then discuss several, more specific legal institutes of the law of obligations, and other recent developments and contemporary challenges to the law of obligations in the Czech Republic, Slovenia, Croatia, Serbia, and Turkey. This book is of interest to legal scholars in the field of private law, as well as to students, practitioners, members of law reform bodies, and civil servants in Central and Southeast Europe, and beyond.

This book looks at mass tort litigation in a variety of formats including lawsuits against manufacturers and Big Pharma. The authors argue that without the personal injury bar, outrageous examples of rampant corporate greed would continue to this day. The author references many class actions such as the exploding Pinto, Agent Orange, the Opioid epidemic, concussions in the NFL, and the Boeing 737 Max scandal. Text reform zealots argue that these lawsuits are bogus and detrimental to the American way of life. This is, of course, ridiculous. The authors argue that attorneys are the only means to alleviate the excesses of corporate greed by showing multiple cases of mistakes that were purposefully ignored because of the quest for corporate gain. Big corporations live by a cost/benefit analysis that allow and even foster the inevitable lawsuit which results from their greed.

The foundations of tort law in various European legal systems differ considerably. Until now, there has not been an attempt to harmonise the entire field of tort law in a consistent manner. To rectify this, a group of tort lawyers has proposed to address the fundamental questions underlying every tort law system. The result is this important series of books, which searches for a common law of Europe without the necessity yet to lay these principles down in formal legal texts, such as a European civil code. Identifying the most relevant factors in establishing liability as wrongfulness, causation, damage, fault, and the area of strict liability, the authors concentrate on the tort liability factor under discussion in each volume, combining theoretical abstract analysis with the discussion of concrete cases. Each author gives an overview of the particular tort liability factor under his or her national legal system - primarily by working out the concept and its importance in establishing liability - and then applies the analysis to actual cases. The subsequent conclusions aim at the coordination of the results and other important factors. In summary, each volume tries to make clear what common ground pertaining to each tort liability factor underlies all the legal systems concerned with respect to the law of tort. Each volume also provides the academic and practitioner with the fundamental issues relating to that factor underlying the law of tort in the countries covered.

Accessory liability in the private law is of great importance. Claimants often bring claims against third parties who participate in wrongs. For example, the 'direct wrongdoer' may be insolvent, so a claimant might prefer a remedy against an accessory in order to obtain satisfactory redress. However, the law in this area has not received the attention it deserves. The criminal law recognises that any person who 'aids, abets, counsels or procures' any offence can be punished as an accessory, but the private law is more fragmented. One reason for this is a tendency to compartmentalise the law of obligations into discrete subjects, such as contract, trusts, tort and intellectual property. This book suggests that by looking across such boundaries in the private law, the nature and principles of accessory liability can be better understood and doctrinal confusion regarding the elements of liability, defences and remedies resolved. Winner of the Joint Second SLS Peter Birks Prize for Outstanding Legal Scholarship 2015.

Class actions in privacy law are rapidly growing as a legal vehicle for citizens around the world to hold corporations liable for privacy violations. Current and future developments in these class actions stand to shift the corporate liability landscape for companies that interact with people's personal information. Privacy class actions are at the intersection of civil litigation, privacy law, and data protection. Developments in privacy class actions raise complex issues of substantive law as well as challenges to the established procedures governing class action litigation. Their outcomes are integral to the evolution of privacy law and data protection law across jurisdictions. This book brings together established scholars in privacy law, data protection law, and collective litigation to offer a detailed perspective on the present and future of collective litigation for privacy claims. Taking a comparative approach, this book incorporates considerations from consumer protection law, procedural law, cross-border litigation, tort law, and data protection law, which are key to understanding the development of privacy class actions. In doing so, it offers an analysis of the novel challenges they pose for courts, regulatory agencies, scholars, and litigators, together with their potential solutions.

This book develops a theory of tort law that integrates deontic and consequential approaches by applying justificational analysis to identify the factors, circumstances, and values that shape tort law. Drawing on Kantian and Rawlsian philosophy, and on the insights of game theorist Ken Binmore, this book refocuses tort law on a single theory of responsibility that explains and justifies the broad range of tort doctrine and concepts. Under this theory, tort law asks people to appropriately incorporate the well-being of others into the decisions they make, explains when that duty applies, and explains the scope and limits of that duty. The theory also incorporates a theory of the evolutionary development of social values that people use, and ought to use, in meeting that duty and explains how decision-making from behind the veil of ignorance allows us to evaluate the is in light of the ought.

The Foundations to Tort Law in European legal systems differ considerably. Until recently, there has been no attempt to harmonize the entire field of Tort Law in a consistent and comprehensive manner. A group of Tort Law experts, the European group on Tort Law, is currently engaged in systematically researching the most fundamental questions underlying the various tort law systems. The result of their work is this important series of books, which is intended as a contribution to a common law of Europe. In the present volume, the authors provide an overview of fault, traditionally considered the most important and most general prerequisite to, and the basis of, liability and its main criterion of imputation. It thus complements the two volumes on "Strict Liability and Liability for Damage Caused by Others" (vol. 6 and 7 of the present series), which have set forth the two other important reasons or principles by which liability is justified. The notion of fault is examined under both its philosophical and functional aspects, an approach which additionally reveals the evolution of this concept from a traditionally subjective to a modern and objectivised understanding. These divergences are reflected in the different legal systems, as demonstrated by an analysis of actual cases. Furthermore, this volume contains an appreciation of the role of fault from the perspective of the Economic Analysis of Law, as well as a comparative report which attempts to describe the most important elements identified by the individual country reports and to draw some conclusions in view of the harmonisation of fault-based liability and its relation with the other bases of liability. In summary, this volume shows the common grounds of liability based on fault in the various legal systems under examination, whilst concurrently providing the academic and the practitioner with the fundamental issues of this type of liability in the countries covered.

This book provides fair and acceptable solutions to hardship issues in long-term relational supply contracts. This book uses an approach to strike a balance between the traditional approach underlying classical contract law which emphasises the almost absolute prevalence of the principle of pacta sunt servanda and a flexible approach that is based on the principle of clausula rebus sic stantibus. This book argues for an emerging principle of pacta sunt servanda bona fide on the basis of the relational contract theory. Additionally, this book demonstrates how good faith can serve as a foundation for imposing a duty to renegotiate on the parties. The aim of this book is rather to propose how relational contract theory can be applied to the analysis of specific legal rules in general. Lastly, this boos highlights how the duty to renegotiate and the power to adapt a contract can be further developed upon the occurrence of hardship, based on good faith and the relational nature and characteristics of a long-term relational supply contract. This book explores and enriches the existing research on relational contract theory concentrates primarily on its application in domestic contract laws, particularly in the regulation of long-term contracts in American contract law. As an outcome this book provides a more feasible and satisfactory approach for courts or arbitral tribunals to undertake when facing hardship issues in international contract disputes. Overall, hardship themes, long-term relational supply contracts and good faith are examined extensively.

Rediscovering the Law of Negligence offers a systematic and theoretical exploration of the law of negligence. Its aim is to re-establish the notion that thinking about the law ought to and can proceed on the basis of principle. As such, it is opposed to the prevalent modern view that the various aspects of the law are and must be based on individual policy decisions and that the task of the judge or commentator is to shape the law in terms of the relevant policies as she sees them. The book, then, is an attempt to re-establish the law of negligence as a body of law rather than as a branch of politics. The book argues that the law of negligence is best understood in terms of a relatively small set of principles enunciated in a small number of leading cases. It further argues that these principles are themselves best seen in terms of an aspect of morality called corrective justice which, when applied to the most important aspects of the law of negligence reveals that the law - even as it now exists - possesses a far greater degree of conceptual unity than is commonly thought. Using this method the author is able to examine familiar aspects of the law of negligence such as the standard of care; the duty of care; remoteness; misfeasance; economic loss; negligent misrepresentation; the liability of public bodies; wrongful conception; nervous shock; the defences of contributory negligence, voluntary assumption of risk, and illegality; causation; and issues concerning proof, to show that when the principles are applied and the idea of corrective justice is properly understood then the law appears both systematic and conceptually satisfactory. The upshot is a rediscovery of the law of negligence.

When watching the evening news you can be led to believe that most slip and fall claims are bogus and nothing more than a scam designed to fleece business owners and the insurance industry for money. But not all Plaintiffs are scam artists, and not all victims are seeking to cash in on their injury. Falls can affect each of us. The next victim could be your mother, your brother, your spouse or child...and oh yes, even you! The truth of the matter is, each year millions of personal injury lawsuits are filed by victims of a slip, trip and fall accidents, most of which are settled out of court. However, over the past decade there has been a noticeable rise in the average settlement as well as jury verdicts. As an expert witness, Russell J. Kendzior has been retained in more than 700 slip, trip, and fall lawsuits and has now compiled over 50 of his top cases in Floored! Rather than debate the truth behind slip, trip and fall litigation Kendzior sets the record straight and provides the reader with a behind the curtain view of the people filing these lawsuits and the companies being sued. This book is a great resource that explains what can be done to prevent the injury and thus the lawsuit through the eyes of a safety expert and stories of real-world victims.

Worker Injury Third Party Cases: Recognizing and Proving Liability is a practical resource that helps lawyers and others identify viable third party theories of liability in worker injury cases. It helps attorneys make what is perhaps their most important economic decision - knowing when to accept and when to reject a new case. This book provides information to help both plaintiff and defense attorneys recognize the strengths and weaknesses of their case. It aims to reinforce the notion that litigation is truly a search for truth and justice. Part I provides an understanding of what should be done to implement the overall job site safety program. Parts II and III aid in identifying and preparing injury cases related to construction and premise cases Part IV should be helpful in products cases. Part V includes chapters of general interest. Many chapters include lists of questions which can be used in deposition or cross examination of defendants and experts. It serves as a practical resource for all parties in a wide variety of worker injury cases.

Within the broad framework of the common law of tort, the torts of nuisance and the rule in Rylands v. Fletcher are central to the protection of the rights of landowners to use and enjoy their land without unreasonable interference and to be free from material damage to their interests. Negligence actions can also serve to promote the protection of personal and property interests. Yet toxic torts are often seen as being beset by theoretical and practical drawbacks. Overall there are serious concerns about the continued value of common law principles as an effective and coherent system that is geared to protecting the environment. Environmental law is increasingly developing its own statutory regimes to address a range of environmental problems. This accentuates the sense in which the aims and reach of these two different branches of the law appear to be diverging. Questions inevitably arise about the inter-relationship between the private law sphere of tort and the public regulatory schemes.

The contributors to this volume of essays include many of the UK's leading academics in the relevant fields of private and public law. While the essays are broadly based, the focus of the book is on the challenges posed by accommodating tort with environmental law.

This is an important book which explores the classification of obligations. This is a very topical subject and it is fitting that it is examined here by contributors who are among the best-known writers in this field. The contributions include A New 'Seascape' for Obligations: Reclassification on the Basis of Measure of Damages by Jane Stapleton; Basic Obligations by James Penner; and an essay by Peter Birks himself entitled, Definition and Division: A Meditation on Institutes. These essays combine practical and academic perspectives which usefully highlight contemporary trends in the law of obligations. The book will be a valuable addition to the libraries of all teachers involved in this area of law.

The leading case of The Mayor, Alderman and Burgesses of the Borough of Bradford v Pickles was the first to establish that it is not unlawful for a property owner to exercise his or her property rights maliciously and to the detriment of others, or the public interest. Though controversial at the time, today it is often invisible and taken for granted. This book explores why the common law, in contrast to civil law systems, developed in this way.

Now updated with everything you need to know about the Scots Law of Delict. Recognising the multi-faceted nature of the Scots law of delict, this new edition provides a truly comprehensive guide to the law. With numerous case studies and clear illustration of key concepts, this is essential reading for all students encountering delict for the first time as well as practitioners who require a ready reference for their practice.

Utilizing a comparative examination of case-law from England, Canada, the USA, Australia, New Zealand and Ireland, this volume provides a comprehensive and systematic study of the law of intervening causation (novus actus interveniens) to present an analysis of this particular judicial limitation of liability device. The work provides a structure from which to formulate core general legal principles and identify the various legal tests utilized by the courts.

This book challenges certain differences between contract, tort and equity in relation to the measure (in a broad sense) of damages. Damages are defined as the monetary award made by a court in consequence of a breach of contract, a tort or an equitable wrong. In all these causes of action, damages usually aim to put the claimant into the position the claimant would be in without the wrong. Even though the main objective of damages is thus the same for each cause of action, their measure is not. While some aspects of the measure of damages are more or less harmonised between contract, tort and equity (e.g. causation in fact and mitigation), significant differences exist in relation to (1) remoteness of damage, which is the question of whether, when and to which degree damage needs to be foreseeable to be recoverable; (2) the compensability of non-pecuniary loss such as pain and suffering, distress and loss of reputation; (3) the effect of contributory negligence, which is the victim's contribution to the occurrence of the wrong or the ensuing loss through unreasonable conduct prior to the wrong; (4) the circumstances under which victims of wrongs can claim the gain the wrongdoer has made from the wrong; and (5) the availability and scope of exemplary (or punitive) damages. For each of the five topics, this book examines the present position in contract, tort and equity and establishes the differences between the three areas. It goes on to scrutinise the arguments in defence of existing differences. The conclusion on each topic is that the present differences between contract, tort and equity cannot be justified on merits and should be removed through a harmonisation of the relevant principles.

Medical-legal consultant Randine Lewis provides lawyers with basic instruction in the practice of modern medicine, and introduces health care professionals to the process of litigation. Her goal is not to incite frivolous or excessive legal actions; instead, she hopes to enable people on both sides of a legal issue to understand how the other side will proceed toward obtaining some kind of redress. Lewis maintains that medical knowledge is lacking in most law firms and her book seeks to remedy that. With the basics of medicine clearly laid out and the risks inherent in medical treatment explained, hew book will be a hands-on desk reference not only in law offices but also in medical and health care occupations. Well illustrated, with examples, lists, and medical terms clearly explained, the book will also be useful to paralegals, nurses, consultants, and other professionals who become involved in litigation involving health care.

The healthcare delivery system in the United States is inundated with medical malpractice and liability issues, and there is no consensus about causes or solutions. Both physicians and an alliance of lawyers and consumer groups agree that there is a crisis, but physicians claim that the current medical malpractice system inheres in too many lawsuits while the lawyers argue that the current level of litigation is insufficient. Multivariate statistical methods are used in this much needed effort to investigate the effects of medical malpractice on various aspects of health care.

After introducing the various tort reforms that have been proposed and implemented by some states, the author analyzes the impact of these reforms on medical malpractice payment rates, claim payments, malpractice insurance, and in dental malpractice. The impact of malpractice liability on costs, licensure, disciplinary action, the supply of physicians, and the practice of defensive medicine are also covered. This is an essential guide for students in law, medicine, and health administration, as well as anyone who wants to research these issues for public policy.

The landscape of mass litigation in Europe has changed impressively in recent years, and collective redress litigation has proved a popular topic. Although much of the literature focuses on the political context, contentious litigation, or how to handle cross-border multi-party cases, this book has a different focus and a fresh approach. Taking as a starting-point the observation that mass litigation claims are a 'AEonuisance'AEo for both parties and courts, the book considers new ways of settling mass disputes. Contributors from across the globe, Australia, Canada, China, Europe and the US, point towards an international convergence of the importance of settlements, mediation and alternative dispute resolution (ADR). They question whether the spread of a culture of settlement signifies a trend or philosophical desire for less confrontation in some societies, and explore the reasons for such a trend. Raising a series of questions on resolving mass disputes, and fuelling future debate, this book will provide a challenging and thought-provoking read for law academics, practitioners and policy-makers.

Routledge Q&As give you the tools to practice and refine your exam technique, showing you how to apply your knowledge to maximum effect in an exam situation. Each book contains up to fifty essay and problem-based questions on the most commonly examined topics, complete with expert guidance and fully worked model answers. These books provide you with the skills you need for your exams by: Helping you to be prepared: each title in the series has an introduction presenting carefully tailored advice on how to approach assessment for your subject Showing you what examiners are looking for: each question is annotated with both a short overview on how to approach your answer, as well as footnoted commentary that demonstrate how model answers meet marking criteria Offering pointers on how to gain marks, as well as what common errors could lose them: 'Aim Higher' and 'Common Pitfalls' offer crucial guidance throughout Helping you to understand and remember the law: diagrams for each answer work to illuminate difficult legal principles and provide overviews of how model answers are structured Books in the series are also supported by a Companion Website that offers online essay-writing tutorials, podcasts, bonus Q&As and multiple-choice questions to help you focus your revision more effectively.

There is no universally accepted definition of moral damages, but the concept is usually understood in the context of torts that cause psychological harm to a person or a person's rights that are difficult to quantify. Heaven's Chancellery describes the difficulties of obtaining legal compensation for damages by victims of such moral injustice. To convey the legal impossibility of just compensation for intangible, and therefore immeasurable, damage, the author presents a fictional account of Adam, a scientist who believes the earthly judicial system has wronged him. Adam finds true compensation only when he is invited on a journey to seek justice in Heaven's Chancellery. By utilizing a narrative fiction, the author invites a wide audience of readers to examine the complications of compensation for intangible damage. Even if moral damage is deemed impossible to fully compensate through the legal terms that we have been used for centuries, the story of Adam's journey in Heaven's Chancellery upholds a possibility of an alternative avenue for justice previously denied to him by the earthly convent. This book will be of interest to students of law and the general reader alike.

Sometimes a breach of contract causes loss to a third party. This book takes a comparative approach to the question when the third party can recover that loss directly,and when the promisee can recover it. The second issue has arisen in carriage of goods, bailment, insurance and agency, and is becoming increasingly significant in construction law, as the recent decision in Alfred McAlpine Construction Ltd v. Panatown Ltd shows. The principal aim is to clarify whether and when a promisee is allowed to recover damages on behalf of a third party. The book also examines the impact of the Contracts (Rights of Third Parties) Act 1999 and recent judicial decisions seeking to increase the protection of the interest in the performance of the contract. From the Foreword by Lord Goff of Chieveley: "For those lawyers who, in their teaching of contract law or of the law of damages, or in their work as practising lawyers, have to consider problems arising in this difficult field, this book will provide a context which is both stimulating and illuminating."

This two-volume collection, prepared by a leading scholar in this field, brings together the seminal articles on the law and economics of tort law. The selection of papers addresses topics such as the Coase theorem, the choice between property and liability rules, the difference between negligence and strict liability, the economics of causation, damages and vicarious liability and the economics of affirmative duties. This is a classic collection that provides an essential foundation in the core issues fundamental to an understanding of tort law.