Book Review
Butterworths' Student Companions: Equity*

Author:	Tim Gibson
Subjects:	Equity (Other articles) Law - study and teaching - Australia (Other articles)
Issue:	Volume 5, Number 3 (September 1998)
Category:	Current Developments

 

1. Student companions are something which I have always viewed with suspicion. My opinion being that they are either, strictly for the diligent or solely for the bone lazy. Considering myself not to fit into either category I have not ever used one.
    
2. The Student Companion For Equity is relatively straightforward. Cases are set out in alphabetical order with a concise summary of the facts and the principle/s from the case. This format makes finding cases very easy. At the back of the companion is a subject index where cases are traced to areas of Equity. I found the subject index a very useful map for areas when the book covered multiple cases from the same area.
    
3. For the student of Equity the companion is a useful supplementary text to Evans' Outline of Equity and Trusts text book. The companion addresses matters which the text book fails to, thus covering cases which are not found in the latter.
    
4. The actual description of the principles from each case is concise and explains to the reader that which was established in the judgements. The case summaries also include, where relevant, the essence of the different judges' decisions. For example in Waltons Stores (Interstate) Ltd v Maher[1] all of the conflicting judgements are covered. Likewise, in The Hospital Products Case,[2] where the judges arrived at similar conclusions, an analysis is made of their different reasonings.
    
5. In total I found the Student Companion for Equity a useful  further  reference book. It came in handy during the exam when I needed to quickly revise several cases. In my opinion a combination of the Outline of Equity and Trusts text and the student companion were more useful than your generic Equity and Trusts text.

Notes

* Evans M. Butterworths' Student Companions : Equity. 3^rd Ed, Butterworths, Perth 1998

[1] (1988) 164 CLR 387

[2] Hospital Products Ltd v United States Surgical Corporation (1984 ) 156 CLR 41