Xavier P. Walsh, a recent honors graduate of Sydney Law School and, more recently, Tipstaff in the Equity Division of the Supreme Court of New South Wales, has posted Voluntary Assignments of Legal Choses in Action in England and Australia After the Judicature Act 1873, which appears in the Journal of Equity 17 (2023): 59:
The assignment of debts and other legal choses in action is commonplace. The required formalities for a voluntary equitable assignment, before and after the introduction of the Judicature Act 1873, however, have long been the subject of controversy. This article seeks to ascertain why England and Australia have apparently diverged in relation to the required formalities for voluntary equitable assignments of debts and other legal choses in action. This aim necessitates consideration of the principles relevant to voluntary equitable assignments prior to the introduction of the Judicature Act 1873. Consequently, this article will seek to establish that a voluntary equitable assignment may be effected orally in England, whereas signed writing is necessary in Australia today. After demonstrating that English and Australian law currently differ on this point, this article will attempt to explain why these jurisdictions have diverged, by reference to what is different about the English understanding of the law relating to voluntary assignments of debts and other legal choses in action.
--Dan Ernst
