blah.java

public class Guff {
    public static void doit() {
        ArrayList<String> list = new ArrayList<String>();
        list.add("bob");
        list.add("rita");
        list.add("sue");
        list.add("rita");
        System.out.println(dedup(list));
    }

    public static <T> List<T> dedup(List<T> list) {
        Set<T> set = new HashSet<T>(list);
        return new ArrayList<T>(set);
    }
}