Senior Lecturer James Lee's work judicially cited
A bestselling textbook co-edited by a Senior Lecturer in The Dickson Poon School of Law has been cited by several courts since its publication in August 2015.
Hanbury & Martin: Modern Equity is the foremost textbook on the law of trusts and equity and is used by leading law schools around the world. James Lee, a Senior Lecturer in Private Law at King’s and Jamie Glister of the University of Sydney co-edited the latest version – Hanbury & Martin: Modern Equity (20th edition) - and undertook the most significant revision of the book since its first publication in 1935. The book incorporates detailed analysis of recent legal developments in the field and includes an entirely new chapter explaining the commercial relevance of trusts in the wake of the global financial crisis.
Since its publication in 2015, Modern Equity (20th edition), has featured in a number of court cases:
In December 2016, Modern Equity was cited by Brown J of the Supreme Court of Canada in a pair of decisions on the remedy of rectification: Jean Coutu Group (PJC) Inc. v. Canada (Attorney General), 2016 SCC 55 and Canada (Attorney General) v. Fairmont Hotels Inc., 2016 SCC 56. This doctrine concerns the circumstances in which the court will allow the variation of a document or instrument which does not reflect the intention of the parties.
In the August 2016, case of Valard Construction Ltd v Bird Construction Company, 2016 ABCA 249, Schutz J of the Court of Appeal of Alberta relied upon Modern Equity extensively for a range of fundamental propositions of trusts law, including reference to the new Equity and the Modern Commercial World chapter.
The book was also cited by Master Clark in FHR European Ventures LLP v Mankarious [2016] EWHC 359 (Ch), a case involving an unauthorised commission.
Commenting on these citations, James said ‘It has been a privilege to take on the editing of the book and to inform current developments in the law with our scholarship. We are delighted that Modern Equity is having impact by being cited as authoritative by judges at various levels and in several jurisdictions.’
James is currently working with Dr Glister on the 21st edition of the book, which is under contract with Sweet & Maxwell for publication in 2018.
You can find out more about James Lee and his research on his profile page.
Further information on the book, including the Editors’ preface as a sample chapter can be found on the Sweet & Maxwell website.