Brian Coote (26 November 1929 – 15 July 2019) was a New Zealand legal academic. He wrote the influential book ''Exception Clauses'', published in 1964, and served as dean of the law faculty at the

University of Auckland , mottoeng = By natural ability and hard work , established = 1883; years ago , endowment = NZD $293 million (31 December 2021) , budget = NZD $1.281 billion (31 December 2021) , chancellor = Cecilia Tarrant , vice_chancellor = Dawn F ...

from 1983 to 1987.

Early life and family

Born

Cambridge Cambridge ( ) is a university city and the county town in Cambridgeshire, England. It is located on the River Cam approximately north of London. As of the 2021 United Kingdom census, the population of Cambridge was 145,700. Cambridge bec ...

on 26 November 1929, Coote was the son of Francis Edmond Coote, a bank manager, and Elivra Ethel Coote (née Meldrum). He was educated at Cambridge District High School, and went on to study law at

Auckland University College , mottoeng = By natural ability and hard work , established = 1883; years ago , endowment = NZD $293 million (31 December 2021) , budget = NZD $1.281 billion (31 December 2021) , chancellor = Cecilia Tarrant , vice_chancellor = Dawn F ...

, graduating

Master of Laws A Master of Laws (M.L. or LL.M.; Latin: ' or ') is an advanced postgraduate academic degree, pursued by those either holding an undergraduate academic law degree, a professional law degree, or an undergraduate degree in a related subject. In mos ...

in 1954. He was awarded a law travelling scholarship, and went to

Queens' College, Cambridge Queens' College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Queens' is one of the oldest colleges of the university, founded in 1448 by Margaret of Anjou. The college spans the River Cam, colloquially referred to as the "light s ...

, completing a

PhD PHD or PhD may refer to: * Doctor of Philosophy (PhD), an academic qualification Entertainment * '' PhD: Phantasy Degree'', a Korean comic series * ''Piled Higher and Deeper'', a web comic * Ph.D. (band), a 1980s British group ** Ph.D. (Ph.D. albu ...

in 1959. His doctoral thesis, ''Exception clauses: their legal effect in contracts for the carriage, bailment, and sale, of goods'', was awarded the

Yorke Prize The Yorke Prize is awarded annually by the Faculty of Law at the University of Cambridge for an essay of between 30,000 and 100,000 words on a legal subject, including the history, analysis, administration and reform of law, "of exceptional quality ...

by the Faculty of Law at the University of Cambridge.

Academic career

Coote returned to New Zealand and was appointed as a senior lecturer in law at the

University of Auckland Law School , mottoeng = By natural ability and hard work , image = , established = 1883 , type = Public , endowment = , dean = Penelope Mathew , city = Auckland , state = , country = New Zealand , mascot = , nickname = , affiliations = , ...

in 1961. He quickly rose to the rank of professor in 1966, and was dean of the law faculty between 1983 and 1987. On his retirement in 1994, he was conferred the title of professor emeritus. Coote's book, ''Exception Clauses'', which was published in 1964 and arose from his PhD studies, was influential in jurisdictions across the

Commonwealth A commonwealth is a traditional English term for a political community founded for the common good. Historically, it has been synonymous with "republic". The noun "commonwealth", meaning "public welfare, general good or advantage", dates from the ...

, including the

House of Lords The House of Lords, also known as the House of Peers, is the Bicameralism, upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Membership is by Life peer, appointment, Hereditary peer, heredity or Lords Spiritual, official function. Like the ...

. Regarded as a leading academic in the area of contract law, he was a member of the Contracts and Commercial Law Reform Committee between 1968 and 1988, and thus was responsible in part for reforms to contract statutes in New Zealand during that period. In particular, he is recognised for his contributions to the Minors' Contracts Act 1969, the

Illegal Contracts Act 1970 The Illegal Contracts Act 970'' is a New Zealand law that manages how contracts are deemed illegal under either common law or under Statute. Under this law, all such contracts are deemed illegal, but it gives wide discretionary powers to grant r ...

, the Contractual Remedies Act 1979, and the Contracts (Privity) Act 1982. Coote continued to write in his retirement, including a history of the Auckland law school, ''Learned in the Law'', published in 2009.

Honours and awards

In the

1995 New Year Honours The New Year Honours 1995 were appointments by most of the sixteen Commonwealth realms of Queen Elizabeth II to Orders and decorations of the Commonwealth realms, various orders and honours to reward and highlight good works by citizens of those co ...

, Coote was appointed a

Commander of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established o ...

, for services to legal education. In 2009, he was elected a

Fellow of the Royal Society of New Zealand A fellow is a concept whose exact meaning depends on context. In learned or professional societies, it refers to a privileged member who is specially elected in recognition of their work and achievements. Within the context of higher education ...

, one of only a handful of lawyers to be so recognised. Coote was also an inaugural Fellow of the New Zealand Academy of the Humanities in 2007.

Death

Coote died in Auckland on 15 July 2019.

Legacy

Coote left $5,000,000 to the

. The University has stated that the income from the legacy would assist faculty graduates to study at a PhD level overseas and to support overseas graduates to study at Auckland as well as being used to improve research law school collections and facilities, fund postdoctoral fellowships and assist academic staff to undertake advanced research overseas."Legal Academic Leaves Largest Bequest Left to Auckland Law School", ''Law Fuel'', 7 June 2020
(retrieved 11 June 2020)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Coote, Brian 1929 births 2019 deaths People educated at Cambridge High School, New Zealand University of Auckland alumni Alumni of Queens' College, Cambridge New Zealand legal scholars Scholars of contract law Academic staff of the University of Auckland New Zealand Commanders of the Order of the British Empire Fellows of the Royal Society of New Zealand Law school deans