"Foreword" [2019] ELECD 2285; in Halson, Roger; Campbell, David (eds), "Research Handbook on Remedies in Private Law" (Edward Elgar Publishing, 2019) x

Book Title: Research Handbook on Remedies in Private Law

Editor(s): Halson, Roger; Campbell, David

Publisher: Edward Elgar Publishing

Section Title: Foreword

Number of pages: 2

Extract:

Foreword
Stewart Macaulay

Miles Davis' Kind of Blue is one of the great jazz recordings. The first selection on the album is
called `So What'. It poses the basic question dealt with in a Research Handbook on Remedies
in Private Law. It is a major triumph to establish that a defendant's negligent conduct was the
proximate cause of the plaintiff's injury. It is not easy to show that there was a binding contract
that the defendant's attempted performance materially breached. Yet as Davis' title reminds
us, once the. plaintiff has done all this work, So What? What can or will the legal system do to
respond to the plaintiff's injury? This first sends us to the remedial rules. There is a great deal
to learn here. These remedial rules can significantly affect the actual consequences of the sub-
stantive law. If we neglect them, we may assume a state of the law that doesn't exist. However,
if we really want to know So What, we have to look at all that is involved beyond the rules
before the injured plaintiff receives any response as a result of her or his bringing a law suit.
It is too easy to forget that law is not free. An injured plaintiff has to decide to bring a
law suit. She must consider what this will cost as compared to the amount of the judgment
she might gain. Some of the costs are directly financial. Lawyers and expert witnesses ...