Accounting for Profit for Breach of Contract

In her engaging and useful book...Katy Barnett presents a theory of disgorgement damages for breach of contract. This is a welcome publication, as disgorgement damages continue to present both theoretical and practical puzzles for the law of contract, and Barnett makes a valuable contribution to this important topic. There is so much to admire in Barnett's book. It is thoughtful, comprehensive, and clearly written, displays a good grasp of the relevant literature, and presents interesting arguments in support of the deterrence and punishment perspectives on disgorgement damages. The book will be of interest to legal academics working in contract law and the law of remedies more generally, and legal practitioners who wish to learn more about the doctrinal and theoretical dimensions of disgorgement damages. [The book is] engaging, challenging, and comprehensive...As an account of the positive law of disgorgement, Barnett's book is extremely useful and anyone interested in the nature of disgorgement damages for breach of contract will surely benefit from reading it. -- Andrew Botterell * Canadian Business Law Journal, Volume 54 *
...a well-argued and thought provoking study of the question of gain-based relief for breaches of contract. It provides an exemplary survey of the case law throughout the common law world and an analysis of the copious secondary literature. It is sure to become an indispensible point of reference for those interested in this subject. -- Craig Rotheram * Lloyd's Maritime and Commercial Law Quarterly *
...though Barnett's review of the disgorgement literature deserves attention in itself, the principal merit of her book is her second sales argument. Leaving aside the special case of Friendmann, this is the best argument for wider recognition of the performance interest made in the recent academic literature. -- David Campbell * Law Quarterly Review, Volume 129 *
This book, deriving from Dr Barnett's PhD thesis, is a thoughtful exploration of an area of contract remedies involving the stripping of profits made by a defendant in breach of contract. This is an area which has excited great academic debate over the last decade, especially since the decisions of the Court of Appeal, and the House of Lords, in Attorney General v Blake. Dr Barnett's novel thesis also considers the important remedy which she describes as 'reasonable fee damages' for a breach of contract and seeks to justify those as 'partial disgorgement' for a breach of contract. -- Justice James Edelman, Judge of the Supreme Court of Western Australia