The University of Alberta Faculty of Law would like to congratulate our colleague Professor Mitchell McInnes on the publication of his new book The Canadian Law of Unjust Enrichment and Restitution (2014), by LexisNexis Canada. Professor McInnes, recognized by Maclean's magazine as one of Canada's leading university professors, joined the UAlberta Faculty of Law in 2005. He previously taught at the University of Western Ontario, the University of Melbourne, and Deakin University in Australia. Professor McInnes clerked at the Supreme Court of Canada and served as a Legal Research Officer with the Alberta Court of Appeal.
"The book," says Professor McInnes, "was a long time coming. That's true for three reasons:
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First, the subject matter is unusually broad. Although they're often overlooked, claims in unjust enrichment arise in a broad range of circumstances, from family property disputes to invalid commercial leases to improper taxation.
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Second, the Canadian principle was fundamentally re-conceived by the Supreme Court of Canada in 2004. As a result of Garland v Consumers' Gas Co, I was required to scrap a large part of the manuscript and start again. Many chapters had to be completely re-written to reflect the new approach to restitutionary liability.
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And finally, the book required fifteen years to write simply because the subject is not well-served in the marketplace. There are very few unjust enrichment texts in Canada and those that do exist were rendered obsolete, to some extent, by the decision in Garland."
According to LexisNexis Canada, the Canadian law of unjust enrichment and restitution is not well understood, despite often being referred to as,
"the third branch of private law" alongside contract law and tort law. The reasons for this are many, and may include that fact that "the subject is seldom taught in law school; many of the traditional cases speak in a language that is incomprehensible to modern ears; and most significantly, until now, there has not been a text that is structured in accordance with the modern Canadian principle of unjust enrichment."1
"This treatise, written by Professor Mitchell McInnes, Canada's leading authority on the law of unjust enrichment, explains this complex area in a straight forward manner. It provides a conceptual overview that cuts through the inconsistencies and uncertainties that have impaired the proper development of the law. It also offers step-by-step guidance to the resolution of restitutionary claims in specific contexts. For the first time, judges, practitioners, and academics have access to a text that clearly explains the Canadian law of unjust enrichment as reformulated in the landmark decision in Garland v. Consumers' Gas Co. (2004)."2
Professor McInnes' teaching and research focuses on Unjust Enrichment, Restitution, Trusts, Torts, Contracts, and Remedies. He is the author of The Canadian Law of Unjust Enrichment and Restitution (2014), co-author of Managing the Law: The Legal Aspects of Doing Business (2002, 2006, 2010, 2013), Oosterhoff on Trusts: Text, Commentary and Cases on Trusts(2004, 2009), Cases and Materials on the Law of Torts (2000, 2003, 2007, 2011), and Cases and Materials on the Law of Restitution (2004), and editor of Understanding Unjust Enrichment (2006) and Restitution: Developments in Unjust Enrichment (1996).
"Our students know that Mitchell McInnes is an outstanding law teacher," said Dean Philip Bryden, "and in the legal academy and the world of legal practice he has built a stellar reputation as one of Canada's leading commentators on a range of private law subjects, including contracts, torts, trusts and restitution. I am confident that his latest book will further cement that reputation throughout the common law world, and we are extremely fortunate to have him as a member of our Faculty."
In addition, Professor McInnes has published more than one hundred articles, comments, and reviews in leading journals, including the Law Quarterly Review, the Cambridge Law Journal, the Canadian Bar Review, and the University of Toronto Law Journal. His work has been relied upon by a number of courts, including the Supreme Court of Canada, the Supreme Court of the United Kingdom, the High Court of Australia, and the Supreme Court of New Zealand.
Professor McInnes has received the Rutherford Award for Excellence in Undergraduate Teaching, the University of Alberta's highest teaching award (2011); and the Tevie H. Miller Teaching Excellence Award, the Faculty of Law's highest teaching award (2008). While teaching at the University of Western Ontario, he received the University of Western Ontario's Award of Excellence in Undergraduate Teaching, the Legal Society's Professor of the Year, and the Edward G. Pleva Award for Excellence in Teaching.
Citing Sources:
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LexisNexis Canada: Citing Sources:
[The Canadian Law of Unjust Enrichment and Restitution (2014)]: para. 1 [June 25, 2014]
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LexisNexis Canada: Citing Sources:
[The Canadian Law of Unjust Enrichment and Restitution (2014)]: para. 2 [June 25, 2014]
