Judging Equity
The Fusion of Unclean Hands in U.S. Law

This book explores the 'clean hands' doctrine, a safety valve in the legal system designed to correct injustice.

T. Leigh Anenson (Author)

9781107160477, Cambridge University Press

Hardback, published 15 November 2018

234 pages
23.4 x 15.7 x 1.6 cm, 0.46 kg

T. Leigh Anenson analyzes the scope of judicial authority and discretion to recognize the equitable doctrine of unclean hands as a bar to actions seeking damages in the United States. Bringing an American perspective to contentious conversation about law-equity fusion in other countries of the common law, Anenson provides a historical, doctrinal, and theoretical account of the integration, analyzes cases in the federal courts and across the fifty states, and places the issue of integration within a broader debate over the fusion of law and equity. Her analysis also includes descriptive and normative accounts of the equitable maxim of unclean hands. This groundbreaking work, which clarifies conflicting case law and advances the idea of a principled fusion of law and equity, should be read by anyone interested in the need for equity - its cultivation, preservation, and celebration.

1. Introduction
2. Announcing the 'clean hands' doctrine
3. Examining the cases
4. Interpreting the merger
5. Framing the fusion debate
6. Thinking procedurally
7. Conclusion.

Subject Areas: Criminal law & procedure [LNF], Private international law & conflict of laws [LBG], Comparative law [LAM], Jurisprudence & general issues [LA], Corporate governance [KJR]