Doug Laycock and Creativity in Restitution—The Henrietta Lacks Litigation as a Test Case

This Article explores the Henrietta Lacks litigation as a test case for Professor Laycock's writings and theories on the law of unjust enrichment and restitution remedies. A series of modern lawsuits brought by the Lacks Estate allege that defendant companies continue to make unjust profits with knowledge of the unsavory provenance of the Henrietta Lacks immortal cell line. The only count in the complaints is unjust enrichment. The core remedy is restitutionary disgorgement of unjust gains. The authors connect the novel nature of the lawsuits to foundational restitution principles. Professor Laycock's scholarly articles, books, and law reform projects bring deeper clarity to the law of unjust enrichment and its host of remedies. There is still much to learn from his works. This Article concludes that it is possible to use bedrock principles from Laycock's analysis to help develop the law of restitution in principled yet innovative ways. Linking creative applications to bedrock principles will fortify the rights and remedies at stake.