Shaping the Law of Obligations

Book excerpt: Ewan McKendrick has been an instrumental figure in shaping the law of obligations, both as a practitioner and as a professor at the University of Oxford and University College London. On the occasion of his retirement from the Oxford Law Faculty, this volume presents a collection of essays in his honour. The contributions pay tribute to and reflect the breadth of Ewan McKendrick's scholarship and published work. Many are comparative in nature, reflecting a key element of his work. The volume is divided into four parts: contract, tort, unjust enrichment, and commercial law, with each of the 23 essays discussing a particular complex question or idea in its area. Topics include duress, good faith, frustration, the illegality defence, contractual interpretation, the basis for different forms of damages, the role of contracts in family life, corporate liability, the Marex tort, receivables financing, the regulation of international commercial contracts, the sale of goods, the development of transnational commercial law, mistakes of law, and implied terms. All 25 of the contributors have either been taught by, or worked closely with Ewan McKendrick (or, in some cases, both); and are all leading academics and/or practitioners, including two current members of the United Kingdom Supreme Court and a Justice of the High Court of Australia.