On today’s episode of the Law Down Under Podcast, we are joined by Dr Katy Barnett. Dr Katy Barnett is a Professor of Law at Melbourne Law School and is widely recognised as a leading authority in several areas, including the law of remedies. She joined Melbourne Law School in 2006 and was appointed permanently in 2010, following earlier roles as a research assistant at the Victorian Court of Appeal and as an associate to Justice Mandie at the Supreme Court of Victoria. Katy’s PhD focused on accounts of profit for breach of contract and has been cited by the Supreme Court of Canada.

We discuss a relatively new and evolving area of commercial remedies relating to negotiation damages. We briefly touch on the more established concept of “user damages” in tort when contrasting the law’s remedial approach in contract claims involving no economic loss. During this episode, Dr Barnett takes us from the development of Wrotham Park damages to the United Kingdom Supreme Court’s decision in Morris-Garner and beyond. Given five decades of an inconsistent and complex legal landscape in this area, we tackle the question of what approach an Australian or New Zealand court might take in light of Morris-Garner and whether a coherent statement of principle is possible. I hope you will enjoy this discussion with Dr Katy Barnett.