Commercial Applications of Equity (LAWS70011)

Equitable doctrines and remedies lie at the heart of commercial conduct, transactions and private law litigation. They provide unique standards of conduct that restrict and guide commercial dealings and a raft of powerful personal and proprietary remedies that dictate defendant liability when transactions fail. Over recent years their influence has been seen not only in important judicial decisions affecting commercial dealings, but in the raft of legislation that now builds on those equitable foundations. This subject considers some of the more pressing points of convergence between equitable doctrine and commercial practice, and examines their ongoing relationship with key statutory counterparts. In doing so, the subject is tightly structured to ensure that students are exposed to cutting-edge legal theory concerning court-led equitable developments and to the ramifications of those developments at the coal-face of commercial practice and dealings.

This subject will be relevant to transaction lawyers involved in planning, initiating and drafting contracts, for corporate lawyers and regulators involved in consumer and banking law and for commercial litigators. The lecturers are internationally recognised experts in the commercial applications of equitable doctrines and remedies. They are also exceptional teachers, evidenced by the consistently outstanding results in the student experience surveys for this subject.

Principal topics and themes include:

• The role of equity in commercial transactions
• The nature of the fiduciary obligations, including the avoidance and ‘management’ of fiduciary conflicts
• Recipient and accessory liability
• Equitable vitiating factors (mistake, undue influence, pressure and unconscionable dealing) in commercial law
• Equity and corporations
• Quistclose trusts
• The role of estoppel in commercial transactions
• Equitable remedies for unjust enrichment and breach of obligation, with special reference to gain-based awards and constructive and resulting trusts.