Interpreting Principles of Equity: The WA Lee Lectures 2000-2013

In 2000 QUT initiated an annual lecture in honour of Tony Lee, the great equity and trusts lecturer and author. This volume contains the 14 WA Lee Equity Lectures given from 2000-13, with commentary and, where necessary, updating from Professor Malcolm Cope. The lecturers include Justices Gummow, White, McPherson, Handley, Kirby, Keane, de Jersey, M McMurdo and Douglas; Professors Lee, Cope and Rickett; and Hubert Picarda QC. The subject matter ranges across Equity from estoppel to charitable trusts, from equity’s reception into Australia to investment by trustees, from the conscience of equity to liens. The book includes the November 2013 lecture, Lessons from a “conversation” about restitution by Justice Susan Kiefel.

Table of Contents:
Foreword by The Hon Chief Justice Paul de Jersey ACPreface Table of Cases Table of Statutes 2000: Trustee Investing: Homes and Hedges WA Lee 2001: The Preamble to the Statute of Charitable Uses 1601: Peter Pan or Alice in Wonderland? Hubert Picarda QC 2002: Equity – Too Successful? The Hon Justice William Gummow AC 2003: Equity: A General Principle of Law Recognised By Civilised Nations? The Hon Justice Margaret White AO 2004: How Equity Reached the Colonies The Hon Justice BH McPherson CBE 2005: A Comparative Evaluation of Developments in Equitable Relief for Breach of Fiduciary Duty and Breach of Trust Professor Malcolm Cope 2006: The Equitable Lien and Personal and Proprietary Claims Against Trustees in Breach Professor Charles Rickett 2007: Unconscionability in Estoppel: Triable Issue or Foundational Principle? The Hon Justice KR Handley AO 2008: Equity’s Australian Isolationism The Hon Justice Michael Kirby AC CMG 2009: The Conscience of Equity The Hon Justice Patrick Keane 2010: Court Intrusion into Testamentary Disposition: A Beneficial Jurisdiction? The Hon Chief Justice Paul de Jersey AC 2011: Faith, Hope and Charity: The Resilience of the Charitable Trust from the Middle Ages to the 21st Century The Hon Justice Margaret McMurdo AC 2012: Trusts and their Equivalents in Civil Law Systems The Hon Justice James Douglas 2013: Lessons from a ‘Conversation’ About Restitution The Hon Justice Susan Kiefel AC Tony Lee: An Appreciation Professor Michael Bryan Another Tribute to Tony Lee The Hon Chief Justice Paul de Jersey AC A Third Tribute to Tony Lee Dr John de Groot Index

About the Author :
Malcolm Cope was a professor in the QUT School of Law and Dean of the Faculty from 1997 – 2003. At his retirement in 2009, the QUT Council awarded him the title of Professor Emeritus in recognition of his outstanding contribution to QUT and the Faculty of Law in particular. Professor Cope is a recognised national and international authority in the area of Equity and Trusts, and has undertaken extensive research and published on various aspects of Equity and Trusts.

Review :
Each of the papers is of a high standard. Because they are speeches they have been written for a listener. I found that they read very easily and typically adopt a style which exposes more difficult legal concepts without the same complication exhibited in many text books or judgments. … It does no injustice to the quality of the material in this book, to say that none of the papers is a difficult read, and many are entertaining. All of them are enlightening. I recommend this book. Read full review... - Gregory Geason, Law Letter, Law Society of Tasmania, Autumn 2015 The publisher is to be congratulated in making the texts generally available. Although it is unlikely that one would have recourse to this work every week, recourse to the wisdom of the senior lawyers in its pages will doubtless ease the burden of research into problems of equity. Read full review... - Peter W Young, Australian Law Journal, April 2015 In this treasure chest, and against heavy and exacting competition, the lecture by Keane J stands out: his Honour’s passages on the Natural Law Ecclesiastical Foundations of Equity and its modern resonations are particularly interesting. This book demonstrates that “there are few areas of the law that generate so many passions as equity” (Kirby J at 211). Read full review... - Philip H. Barton, InPrint, Law Institute Journal Victoria, March 2015 This is a most valuable volume, which will interest lawyers across the Commonwealth, especially those who specialise in equity. It contains the texts of 14 lectures delivered annually in Brisbane to honour the lifetime work of W.A. Lee, one of the authors of The Law of Trusts, first published in 1983, and much relied on by judges, practitioners and academics as a work of authority on Australian law; it is now available in looseleaf form. The lectures, with one exception, were given by present or former Australian judges and academics, and one is glad that Tony Lee himself is among the speakers. The lectures range in content from charity law and modem investment theory, through topics in the substantive law and remedies, to restitution and aspects of the civil law. The status of equity's conscience and the notion of unconscionability play a large part, as does the history of equity and of how it became part of the law of the colonies. The scholarship throughout is impeccable. An introduction by the editor, which precedes each lecture, tells one something about the lecturer and summarises changes to the law since it was delivered. Both conservatives and radicals are represented–some answer previous speakers. The reader is left with the impression not only that Australian equity thrives, but that it is markedly different from equity as it has been developed in the United Kingdom, New Zealand and Canada. There is no such thing as Commonwealth Law. The lectures all exist in print somewhere, but few are readily accessible. This compilation does more than provide such access however, as it presents a picture of lively controversies and of law in the making. There is so much to be learned from it. - Derek Davies, Law Quarterly Review, St Catherine's College, University of Oxford, October 2014 This volume provides an engaging reflection on current trends in trust and succession law. It is hard not to be drawn in, and to be enthused once again, with the importance of these areas of everyday practice. This collection is a fitting tribute to Tony Lee’s many years of scholarship and encouragement to students of equity and succession law. Practitioners in the areas of trusts and succession law can derive much from reflecting on the themes that are examined in these lectures. Read full review... - Richard Williams, Hearsay, September 2014, 69