Legal Definitions - restitution interest

Restitution Interest refers to a legal remedy focused on preventing one party from being unjustly enriched at the expense of another. Instead of compensating the injured party for their losses (which is the aim of other types of damages), restitution interest seeks to compel the party who received a benefit to return that benefit to the party from whom it was unjustly obtained. The primary goal is to restore the unjustly gained benefit, focusing on the defendant's gain rather than the plaintiff's loss.

Here are some examples illustrating restitution interest:

• Imagine a scenario where a software developer accidentally receives a payment of $20,000 from a client, even though the agreed-upon invoice was only for $10,000. The client later realizes the error and sues to recover the overpayment. A court ordering the developer to return the extra $10,000 would be enforcing a restitution interest. The developer unjustly received $10,000 that rightfully belonged to the client, and the court's order ensures that benefit is returned, preventing the developer from being unjustly enriched.

• Consider a situation where a contractor is hired to build a deck for a homeowner. The contract specifies the use of high-quality cedar wood. However, the contractor secretly uses cheaper pine wood, pocketing the difference in material cost. When the homeowner discovers the deception, a court might order the contractor to return the cost savings they achieved by using the inferior materials. This is an application of restitution interest because the contractor unjustly gained a financial benefit by breaching the contract and providing a cheaper alternative than agreed, and the court seeks to strip them of that ill-gotten gain.

• Suppose a marketing firm mistakenly sends a confidential client list to a competitor, who then uses that list to solicit business and secure several new contracts. Even if the original marketing firm cannot prove specific lost profits, a court might order the competitor to disgorge the profits they made directly from using the stolen client list. This remedy serves the restitution interest by requiring the competitor to return the financial benefit they unjustly gained through the unauthorized use of proprietary information.