ADVANCED PRIVATE LAW

Seminar 4: Equitable Compensation: Pre-Reading

The aim of this seminar is to identify the principles underpinning awards of equitable compensation.
What is equitable compensation? When is this remedy awarded, in what measure, and with what
justifications?

Compare the rules on equitable compensation with the common law rules on compensation. Is there
any objectionable inconsistency?

Pre-reading:

AIB Group (UK) plc v Mark Redler & Co Solicitors [2014] UKSC 58
Target Holdings Ltd v Redferns [1995] UKHL 10
Main v Giambrone & Law (a firm) [2017] EWCA Civ 1193

C Mitchell, ‘Stewardship of Property and Liability to Account’ [2014] Conv 215-228 [on Moodle]

[For the civilian lawyers, this seminar involves trusts. It is necessary to know at least something of
what a trust is, even though this is not an equity course and we do not expect you to dig deeply into
the nature of equity and trusts.

These cases on equitable compensation typically involve a trustee holding assets on trust for a
beneficiary: at its simplest, this will mean that a trustee has legal title to the assets (and possession if
the assets are tangible), but manages those assets solely for the economic benefit of the
beneficiaries, not the economic benefit of the trustee. If the trustee mismanages the assets (ie
breaches the terms of the trust), that is likely to cause loss to the beneficiaries. It is this loss which is
the subject of these cases.

For a short introduction, see C Webb and T Akkouh, Trusts Law (5th edn, Palgrave Masters), chs 1 and
2 (equity and trust basics), and pp 310-320 (equitable compensation). This book is in the library, with
some (limited) electronic availability.]

1 Prof Sarah Worthington

sew1003@cm.ac.uk
2021-22