Also known as: restitutionary interests · restitution interest
Written by attorneys · grounded in primary & secondary sources — see below
A contractual remedial interest consisting of the promisee's right to restoration of any benefit conferred on the promisor by part performance or reliance. Recovery prevents unjust enrichment by requiring the promisor to return the value of what was received rather than compensating the promisee's own losses or lost expectations.
Ruby Rivera created original lecture videos and course modules for Ridgeway Partners under a short-term teaching contract. After the contract ended the company continued using the materials in its ongoing program without additional payment. Rivera sues seeking the value of the benefit the company retained from her work product.
Rowan Russell performed design work on a prototype for Radiant Technologies before the company terminated the relationship. The court must decide whether to measure recovery by the reasonable cost to obtain equivalent services or by any increase in the company's property value from the prototype. Russell's claim turns on which measure justice requires under the circumstances.
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The restitution interest focuses on restoring to the promisee the value of any benefit conferred on the promisor. The reliance interest instead reimburses the promisee for losses incurred by relying on the contract, placing the promisee in the position occupied if the contract had never been made.
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A court may measure recovery by the reasonable value to the promisor of what was received or by the extent to which the promisor's property increased in value or other interests advanced. The choice turns on which measure justice requires.
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Yes. Recovery is available only to the extent the promisee conferred a benefit on the promisor by part performance or reliance, and the remedy prevents unjust enrichment rather than compensating the promisee's own detriment.
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Yes. The defendant may be liable to restore a benefit that would be unjust to retain even if the benefit was obtained honestly.
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A contract's express remedial limitations may restrict recovery even when restitution is otherwise available, because the parties' allocation of risk controls over the default restitution measure.
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…it honestly. Id ; Restatement (Second) of Contracts § 376 comment a. The issue we must now address is the proper measure of the restitutionary interest. The first step determining the proper measure of restitution requires that the rescinding party return or offer to return, conditional on restitution, any interest in property that he has…