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Prof. David Winterton

Associate Professor

Biography

David is an Associate Professor at The University of Hong Kong, with a specialization in contract law, commercial remedies, restitution and private law theory. He has published in several leading academic journals, as well as a monograph based on his doctrinal dissertation, entitled Money Awards in Contract Law (Bloomsbury 2015), which was shortlisted for the St Petersburg International Legal Forum Private Law Prize in 2018. His work has also been cited in various judicial decisions, including in the ultimate appellate courts of Australia and Canada.

Prior to his arrival in Hong Kong, David was a Senior Lecturer at the University of Sydney, and prior to that a Lecturer at UNSW and a stipendiary lecturer at St Anne’s College, Oxford. He holds a BSc (Pure Mathematics) and an LLB from UNSW and a BCL (Dist), MPhil and DPhil from the University of Oxford. Additionally, David has spent some time in legal practice in both Sydney (commercial litigation) and New York (Bankruptcy & Restructuring). He is admitted as a legal practitioner in NSW (2006) and as an Attorney in New York (2012).

Email:

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List of Publications

Sole-Authored Books:

  • Money Awards in Contract Law (Bloomsbury 2015), selected as one of the eight finalists in the 2018 St Petersburg International Legal Forum Private Law Prize.

Full-Length, Peer Reviewed Journal Articles:

  • ‘Examining Mitigation in the Law of Damages and the Limits of the Compensatory Principle’ (2026) 46 Oxford Journal of Legal Studies 201–222.
  • ‘Future Performance and Proof in Contract Damages’ (2026) 48 Sydney Law Review 1–31, with Michael Dimarco.
  • ‘The Nature and Availability of Negotiating Damage for Breach of Contract’ (2025) 48(3) Melbourne University Law Review (2025) 48(3) 802-844, with Nicholas Tiverios.
  • ‘Reassessing Reliance Damages’ (2024) 46(1) Sydney Law Review 87-102.
  • ‘Prioritisng Proof over Speculation: Resolving the Prospective Inability Problem in Contract Damages’ (2023) 86 Modern Law Review 843-871.
  • ‘The Possibility of Lawful Act Economic Duress’ (2022) 86 Modern Law Review 238-249, with Tim Pilkington.
  • ‘Examining the Structure of Remedial Law’ (2021) 84 Modern Law Review 1137-1158, with Tim Pilkington.
  • ‘Mann v Paterson Constructions Pty Ltd: The Intersection of Debt, Damages and Quantum Meruit’ (2020) 44(2) Melbourne University Law Review 679-724, with Tim Pilkington.
  • ‘Claims for the Value of the Lost Contractual Performance’ (2019) 45 University of Western Australia Law Review 75-103.
  • ‘Unjust Enrichment and Rough Justice’ [2016] Restitution Law Review 164-172.
  • ‘A Voyage to the Higher Altitudes of Contract Law’ [2015] Lloyd’s Maritime and Commercial Law Quarterly 124-146.
  • ‘Clark v Macourt: Defective Sperm and Performance Substitutes in the High Court of Australia’ (2014) 38 Melbourne University Law Review 755-794.
  • ‘Contract Theory and Gain-Based Recovery’ (2013) 76 Modern Law Review 1129-1155.
  • ‘The Relationship between Specific Performance & Mitigation: Distinguishing between Substitution and Compensation in Contract Law’ (2013) 7 Journal of Equity 287-311.
  • ‘Prospective Liability for Breach and Repudiation’ [2012] Lloyd’s Maritime and Commercial Law Quarterly 619-630.
  • ‘Money Awards Substituting for Performance’ [2012] Lloyd’s Maritime and Commercial Law Quarterly 446-470.

Edited Collections:

  • The Australian Law of Restitution in the Twenty-First Century (Federation Press 2027, forthcoming), co-edited with Timothy Pilkington.

Book Chapters in Edited Collections:

  • ‘Rights, Reasons & Policy in Contract Law Adjudication’ in Tan Zhong Xing (ed), Policy in Commercial Law (Hart 2027, forthcoming).
  • ‘The Express Modification of Contract Law’s Default Remedial Rules’ in Mandatory and Default Rules in Contract and Commercial Law in K Barnett, W Day, J Morgan & A Robertson (eds) (Bloomsbury 2026)
  • ‘Repairing the Compensatory Principle in Negligence’ in J Eldridge, T Pilkington & D Rolph (eds) Australian Tort Law in the 21st Century (The Federation Press 2024) 225-244, with Stephen Puttick.
  • ‘Limiting the Recovery of Damages for Breach of Contract in Australia: Some Important Unresolved Questions’ in J Eldridge and T Pilkington (eds) Australian Contract Law in the 21st Century (Federation Press 2021) 54-77.
  • ‘Two Conceptions of the Performance Interest in Contract Damages’ in D Campbell and R Halson, eds, Research Handbook on Remedies (Edward Elgar 2019) 130-146.
  • ‘Twenty-Five Years On: Re-examining Commonwealth v Amann Aviation Pty Ltd and the Problem of Pre-Breach Expenditure in Contract Law’ in S Degeling, J Edelman and J Goudkamp (eds) Contracts in Commercial Law (Thomson Reuters 2016) 333-358.

Peer Reviewed Shorter Articles & Case Notes:

  • ‘Conscious Awareness and False Beliefs in the Law of Deceit’ (2026) 142(3) Law Quarterly Review 525-531, with Joshua Lai.
  • ‘SAAMCo in the New Zealand Supreme Court’ (2026) 142(1) Law Quarterly Review 185-190, with Tim Pilkington.
  • ‘Clarifying the Basis for Recovering Reliance Expenditure as Damages for Breach of Contract in Australia’ (2025) 141 Law Quarterly Review 19-25;
  • Contractual Remoteness and Psychiatric Injury in the High Court of Australia’, (2025) 44 University of Queensland Law Journal 153-160.
  • ‘Assessing Damages for Non-Acceptance of Goods under GAFTA Default Clause’ (2024) 140 Law Quarterly Review 165-170.
  • ‘Resolving Gaps in Informal Contracts: Barton v Morris [2023] UKSC 3, [2023] AC
  • 684’ (2023) 39 Journal of Contract Law 22-26.
  • ‘The Relevance of Hindsight in Damages Assessment for Breach of Warranty and Deceit’ (2023) 139 Law Quarterly Review 525-530, with Michael Dimarco.
  • ‘Void Contracts, Counter-Restitution, and Change of Position’ (2022) 138 Law Quarterly Review 21-27, with Tim Pilkington.
  • ‘Reconsidering White & Carter v McGregor: The Aquafaith’ [2013] Lloyd’s Maritime and Commercial Law Quarterly 5-10.
  • ‘Steering a Course on Contract Damages and Failure of Consideration’ (2012) 128 Law Quarterly Review 23-28, with Frederick Wilmot-Smith.