Bankruptcy Law Commons^™

Proprietary Remedies In Insolvency: A Comparison Of The Restatement (Third) Of Restitution & Unjust Enrichment With English And Commonwealth Law, Anthony Duggan

Washington and Lee Law Review

This Article deals with proprietary remedies, in particular the constructive trust, and their application in the defendant’s bankruptcy. The Article offers a comparative analysis of English and Commonwealth law with the relevant parts of the recently completed Restatement (Third) of Restitution & Unjust Enrichment. The discussion is organized around five simple hypotheticals, each representing issues which courts in England and other parts of the Commonwealth have found particularly troubling: mistaken payments; misrepresentation in the context of land dealings; misrepresentation in other contexts; breach of fiduciary obligation; and specific performance. The aim is to identify the likely outcome in each case …