This list of cases involving Lord Mansfield includes his major reported legal judgments, particularly during the time that Lord Mansfield served as the Lord Chief Justice of the English Court of the King's Bench from 1756 to 1788. He made historical contributions to the common law, particularly in declaring slavery to be unlawful, and in elaborating essential principles of good faith in the law of contracts.
King's Bench
1750s Robinson v Robinson (1756) 96 ER 999, Lord Mansfield's first case, holding a will effective if, even uncertainly, it does "manifest general intent" Cooper v Chitty (1756) 1 Burr 36, trover and conversion R v Richardson (1758) 97 ER 426, principles of representative accountability in companies
1760s Moses v Macferlan (1760) 2 Burr 1005, unjust enrichment, or quasi-contract Pillans & Rose v Van Mierop & Hopkins (1765) 3 Burr 1663, irrelevance of consideration Carter v Boehm (1766) 3 Burr 1905, good faith principle in context of insurance Alderson v Temple (1768) 96 ER 384, on fraudulent preferences in insolvency aimed at equality Millar v Taylor (1769) 4 Burr. 2303, declaring a perpetual copyright, overruled by Donaldson v Becket (1774) 4 Burr 2408
1770s Tinker v Poole (1770) 5 Burr 2657, conversion Somerset v Stewart (1772) 98 ER 499, illegality of slavery at common law Campbell v Hall (1774) 1 Cowp 204, tax and the Crown's authority in a colony Holman v Johnson (1775) 1 Cowp 341, the illegality policy in contract law Pierson v Dunlop (1777) Cowp. 571 Bach v Longman (1777) 2 Cowper 623, copyright Da Costa v Jones (1778) 2 Cowp 729, on good faith in wagers R v Baillie (1778) criminal libel Pawson v Watson (1778) 2 Cowp 786, reasserting the general principle of good faith
1780s Trial of Lord George Gordon (1781) high treason trial for Gordon riots against Catholics in London R v Shipley (1784) libel Forward v Pittard (1785) 1 Term Rep. 27, bailees
See also English contract law UK copyright law
Notes