“The Bar Standards Board has given the green light for the introduction of standard contractual terms that will enable barristers to sue solicitors for unpaid fees.”
Law Society’s Gazette, 5th May 2011
Source: www.lawgazette.co.uk
from the Inner Temple Library
Redcard Ltd and others v Williams and others [2011] EWCA Civ 466; [2011] WLR (D) 145
“Under section 44 of the Companies Act 2006 a company document could validly be signed by signatories acting for the company even though the execution did not take place either with the common seal of the company or by expressly being signed ‘for or on behalf of the company’.”
WLR Daily, 20th April 2011
Source: www.iclr.co.uk
Please note that once a case has been fully reported in one of the ICLR series the corresponding WLR Daily summary is removed.
“A clause in a settlement agreement relieving the paying party from its obligation to make payment to the receiving party in the event of the latter’s insolvency infringed the ‘anti-deprivation principle’ which prevented the making of a valid contract by which a person’s property was to remain his until bankruptcy but on such event was to pass to someone else and be taken away from his creditors.”
WLR Daily, 31st March 2011
Source: www.iclr.co.uk
Please note that once a case has been fully reported in one of the ICLR series the corresponding WLR Daily summary is removed.
“A contract concerning rescue services under which the operator was fully remunerated by persons other than the contracting authority awarding the contract and which placed a limited operating risk on the operator was classified as a ‘service concession’ within the meaning of article 1(4) of Parliament and Council Directive 2004/18/EC, as distinct from a public contract or public service contract within article 1(2)(a)(d).”
WLR Daily, 10th March 2011
Source: www.iclr.co.uk
Please note that once a case has been fully reported in one of the ICLR series the corresponding WLR Daily summary is removed.
“The court of appeal yesterday cleared the way for more than 100 investment bankers to sue Commerzbank over unpaid bonuses in one of the highest profile cases to emerge from the financial crisis.’
The Guardian, 8th March 2011
Source: www.guardian.co.uk
“A High Court judge warned solicitors of the need to be clear in retainer letters, as he ruled that a firm had breached its contract by refusing to carry out further work for a client until he had paid his bills, in a decision that the judge admitted ‘may seem harsh’.”
Law Society’s Gazette, 3rd March 2011
Source: www.lawgazette.co.uk
“Companies whose small print changes the basis of consumer deals will face investigation by consumer regulator the Office of Fair Trading (OFT), it has said. According to the OFT, one in five consumers had experienced a contract problem in the last year.”
OUT-LAW.com, 24th February 2011
Source: www.out-law.com
“The Bar Council, which represents barristers in England and Wales, has urged the European Commission to show restraint in considering new proposals on European contract law.”
The Bar Council, 1st February 2011
Source: www.barcouncil.org.uk
CLECE SA v Martín Valor and another (Case C-463/09); [2011] WLR (D) 12
“Council Directive 2001/23/EC of 12 March 2001 on the safeguarding of employees’ rights in the event of transfers of undertakings and businesses did not apply to a situation in which a municipal authority which had contracted out the cleaning of its premises to a private company decided to terminate its contract with that company and to undertake the cleaning of those premises itself by hiring new staff for that purpose.”
WLR Daily, 24th January 2011
Source: www.lawreports.co.uk
Please note once a case has been fully reported in one of the ICLR series the corresponding WLR Daily summary is removed.
Robinson v PE Jones (Contractors) Ltd [2011] EWCA Civ 9; [2011] WLR (D) 4
“The builder/vendor of a building did not by reason of his contract to construct or to complete the building assume any liability in the tort of negligence in relation to defects in the building giving rise to purely economic loss.”
WLR Daily, 19th Janaury 2011
Source: www.lawreports.co.uk
Please note once a case has been fully reported in one of the ICLR series the corresponding WLR Daily summary is removed.
“The Law Commission and Scottish Law Commission are conducting a joint review of insurance contract law.”
Law Commission, 16th December 2010
Source: www.lawcom.gov.uk
Carroll v Kynaston [2010] EWCA Civ 1404; [2010] WLR (D) 325
“A party to a settlement agreement was not entitled to claim in a further action by way of damages the amount by which the costs awarded him fell short of the costs actually incurred by him.”
WLR Daily, 14th December 2010
Source: www.lawreports.co.uk
Please note once a case has been fully reported in one of the ICLR series the corresponding WLR Daily summary is removed
“Ex-boxer Ricky Hatton has settled a £1.4 million claim for unpaid wages from his former trainer. Hatton today reached an undisclosed but ‘mutually acceptable’ deal with Billy Graham on the third day of a hearing at Manchester’s Civil Justice Centre.”
The Independent, 8th December 2010
Source: www.independent.co.uk
“Where, in the course of a contractual transaction, a document had been altered unilaterally, and the other party sought to rely on the rule in Pigot’s case in submitting that the underlying transaction was thereby rendered void, it was important to draw a distinction between documents which contained or evidenced the transaction and documents which were required to carry it into effect.”
WLR Daily, 25th November 2010
Source: www.lawreports.co.uk
Please note once a case has been fully reported in one of the ICLR series the corresponding WLR Daily summary is removed.
“We have published a summary of the responses to our Issues Paper 6 (Damages for Late Payment and the Insurer’s Duty of Good Faith).”
Law Commission, 18th November 2010
Source: www.lawcom.gov.uk
“An Indian solar panels manufacturer cannot continue legal action in India because to do so would undermine an earlier English court ruling, the High Court in London has ruled.”
OUT-LAW.com, 10th November 2010
Source: www.out-law.com
“An assignment of copyright which was subject to automatic reverter in the event of an unremedied notified material breach of contract prior to the expiration of the period of copyright was permitted by s 90 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.”
WLR Daily, 3rd November 2010
Source: www.lawreports.co.uk
Please note once a case has been fully reported in one of the ICLR series the corresponding WLR Daily summary is removed.
“Companies claiming that a business partner walked away from a contract should pay less attention to previous cases and more attention to the basic principals behind the law of repudiation, the Court of Appeal has said.”
OUT-LAW.com, 1st November 2010
Source: www.out-law.com
“There was no justification for implying a term in a contract for the sale of goods that goods which were accepted as complying with specification on loading at a seaport should be capable of remaining in an acceptable condition until unloaded at the end of a voyage. The contract specified that the buyer ‘assumes all risks pertaining thereto’. These included the risk of cargo instability. Were the term to be implied it would destroy certainty in the international sale of goods because the testing and certification of goods at the point of loading would always have to make way for a special implied term. Despite the huge inroads made first by the common law and then statute, the underlying principle remained caveat emptor, let the buyer beware.”
“A party who had been named in arbitration proceedings could simply ignore the arbitration proceedings if he considered that he had not entered into the agreement and come to court to challenge the jurisdiction of the arbitral tribunal; but if he had taken part in the proceedings disputing the jurisdiction of the court or the tribunal’s exercise of their asserted substantive jurisdiction, his right was limited to challenging the award under s 67 of the Arbitration Act 1996.”
WLR Daily, 13th October 2010
Source: www.lawreports.co.uk
Please note once a case has been fully reported in one of the ICLR series the corresponding WLR Daily summary is removed.
” Kevin Pietersen has been fined over his foul-mouthed outburst on Twitter last week. The England batsman had reacted angrily to being left out of the England squad for the one-day and Twenty20 series against Pakistan.”
The Guardian, 6th September 2010
Source: www.guardian.co.uk
“Compass has filed a £2.3m lawsuit against an NHS trust amid claims the catering group faced ‘grossly exaggerated’ penalties for minor contract failures including holding a fire door open with a spoon and supplying out-of-date tomato ketchup.”
Daily Telegraph, 2nd September 2010
Source: www.telegraph.co.uk
“The Government has today launched a Call for Evidence seeking views on the European Commission’s Green Paper on potential changes to contract law.”
Ministry of Justice, 18th August 2010
Source: www.justice.gov.uk
“The BBC is facing a human rights battle with ‘The Stig’, the mystery stunt driver on Top Gear, in an effort to stop him disclosing his identity.”
Daily Telegraph, 19th August 2010
Soruce: www.telegraph.co.uk
“When consulting and IT firm Accenture made a number of small breaches of the terms of a contract this could add up to a major breach with potentially costly consequences, the Court of Appeal has ruled.”
OUT-LAw.com, 11th August 2010
Source: www.out-law.com
“The failure of two companies to agree whose terms and conditions governed the sale of a consignment of goods means that neither company’s terms can be enforced, the High Court has said.”
OUT-LAW.com, 2nd August 2010
Source: www.out-law.com
“A mistake in a contract between two companies can be corrected by a court despite the contract containing a clause stating that only the contents of the contract should govern the disputed deal.”
OUT-LAW.com, 16th July 2010
Source: www.out-law.com
“Wayne Rooney today defeated attempts to sue him for £4.3 million. The Manchester United and England striker was accused of withholding commission on multi-million pound deals brokered by sports management firm Proactive, who used to represent him.”
The Independent, 15th July 2010
Source: www.independent.co.uk
“The Law Commission and Scottish Law Commission are conducting a joint review of insurance contract law.”
Law Commission, 9th July 2010
Source: www.lawcom.gov.uk
“An offer to settle court proceedings that is made under Part 36 of the Civil Procedure Rules in England and Wales can still be accepted after it has been rejected, unless a formal withdrawal has been made, the Court of Appeal has ruled.”
OUT-LAW.com, 2nd July 2010
Source: www.out-law.com
“The Candy Brothers have won their High Court bid to prove Qatari architects were wrong to withdraw plans for the redevelopment of Chelsea Barracks following an intervention by the Prince of Wales.”
Daily Telegraph, 25th June 2010
Source: www.telegraph.co.uk
Geldof Metaalconstructie NV v Simon Carves Ltd [2010] EWCA Civ 667; [2010] WLR (D) 146
“A defendant was entitled to set off against the claimant’s claim under an installation contract a counterclaim under a separate supply contract, because the claimant had itself linked the two contracts by demanding payment of invoices under the supply contract as a condition of continuing performance of the installation contract. In addition, the supply contract contained a right to set-off clause which went further than the common law in permitting the defendant to set off “any amounts lawfully due” against the purchase price.”
WLR Daily, 14th June 2010
Source:
“The case has caused a stir because correspondence from the Prince of Wales will be used as evidence, in what has become a row over the most expensive piece of land in Britain and an argument between modernist and traditional architects.”
Daily Telegraph, 17th May 2010
Sourc: www.telegraph.co.uk
“A software company’s stipulation that customers could not take action against it for the poor performance of its software was unfair and could not be enforced, the High Court has said.”
OUT-LAW.com, 11th May 2010
Source: www.out-law.com
“The first case to reach the Employment Appeal Tribunal concerning a dispute between two law firms over the employment law implications of winning a client contract from another firm has provided ‘much-needed clarification’ on the issue, experts have said.”
Law Society’s Gazette, 29th April 2010
Source: www.lawgazette.co.uk
Khatri v Cooperatieve Centrale Raiffeisen-Boerenleenbank BA [2010] EWCA Civ 397; [2010] WLR (D) 100
“Where an application for summary judgment turned on the terms of a written contract, it did not follow that the factual matrix of the contractual relationship could only be determined by a full trial with discovery, evidence and cross-examination of witnesses. If there was no conflict of evidence on a relevant point of background matrix, it was only when there really were reasonable grounds for supposing that a fuller investigation of the facts as to the background might make a difference to construction that the court should decline to construe the contract on a summary judgment (including a strike out) application.”
WLR Daily, 23rd April 2010
Source: www.lawreports.co.uk
Please note once a case has been fully reported in one of the ICLR series the corresponding WLR Daily summary is removed.
“A venture capital company that breached the confidentiality of businessmen who came to it with a proposition should only have to pay damages as compensation and not a share of their profits from the deal, the High Court has ruled.”
OUT-LAW.com, 29th March 2010
Source: www.out-law.com
“A draft contractual agreement to install equipment in a factory, which was never executed as the work was commenced, completed and partly paid for during the negotiations, took effect as a binding contract as the essential terms had been agreed and neither party had intended agreement of the remaining terms to be a precondition to a concluded contract. Although the draft agreement contained a clause stating that the contract was not effective until it was executed, it was possible for parties to waive such a clause and, on the facts, these parties had done so.”
WLR Daily, 11th March 2010
Source: www.lawreports.co.uk
Please note once a case has been fully reported in one of the ICLR series the corresponding WLR Daily summary is removed.
“A deal was governed by a contract despite the two companies involved not actually signing and exchanging copies of it, the Supreme Court has ruled. The contract is in effect because the firms behaved as if it was, it said.”
OUT-LAW.com, 11th March 2010
Source: www.out-law.com
“Pink Floyd have won a court battle with record label EMI over how their music is sold over the internet.”
BBC News, 11th March 2010
Source: www.bbc.co.uk
“A contract’s liability cap applies to interest on payments that is part of that contractual agreement but does not apply to statutory interest applied by a court, the High Court has said.”
OUT-LAW.com, 4th March 2010
Source: www.out-law.com
“The Ministry of Justice has published guidance to European Regulations on which law applies in international disputes. The guidance relates to new rules that came into force in December.”
OUT-LAW.com, 26th February 2010
Source: www.out-law.com
“Wayne Rooney will give evidence in court later today as he fights a £4.3 million lawsuit. The Manchester United and England striker will be questioned over his involvement with controversial football agent Paul Stretford, who represented the player for six years.”
The Independent, 12th February 2010
Source: www.independent.co.uk
“Consumer protection regulator the Office of Fair Trading (OFT) has launched an investigation into whether complex contracts for goods and services are unfair to consumers. The investigation will particularly focus on online transactions.”
Out-Law.com, 9th February 2010
Source: www.out-law.com
“The High Court has ordered Hewlett-Packard to pay BSkyB £200 million in interim damages, according to press reports. The interim award follows a ruling last week over a contract tendering process.”
OUT-LAW.com, 3rd February 2010
Source: www.out-law.com
“IT companies will not have to conduct a total overhaul of their sales processes in the aftermath of a long-awaited court ruling this week, a technology law expert has said. The ruling focused on the dishonesty of one employee, not a whole company.”
OUT-LAW.com, 28th January 2010
Source: www.out-law.com
“BSkyB, the satellite broadcaster, won a landmark court ruling yesterday against an information technology supplier that it had accused of lying to win a £50 million tender.”
The Times, 27th January 2010
Source: www.timesonline.co.uk
“Bath and North East Somerset Council was paid at least £4.17m in compensation for the delayed Bath Spa Project, its accounts have revealed.”
BBC News, 9th December 2009
Source: www.bbc.co.uk
“Christian and Nick Candy, property developers … claim Qatari Diar Real Estate Investments broke a £119 million contract after an alleged intervention by the Prince of Wales.”
Daily Telegraph, 7th December 2009
Source: www.telegraph.co.uk
“Companies that negotiate contracts without specifying which country’s law should govern any contractual disputes between them will face a new legal regime in two weeks’ time. From 17th December, a new EU law, Rome I, will decide which law should apply.”
OUT-LAW.com, 3rd December 2009
Source: www.out-law.com
“The Prince of Wales could be asked to appear in court over his role in helping to block the £3 billion Chelsea Barracks housing scheme designed by Lord Rogers.”
Daily Telegraph, 29th November 2009
Source: www.telegraph.co.uk
“Wording in a contract that seeks to exclude liability in a contract is more vulnerable to being struck out than lawyers previously thought. A ruling suggests that exclusion clauses are more likely to be effective when broken into separate terms.”
OUT-LAW.com, 5th November 2009
Source: www.out-law.com
“The Law Commission and Scottish Law Commission are conducting a joint review of insurance contract law.”
Law Commission, 5th November 2009
Source: www.lawcom.gov.uk
“The NHS in Leicester is being sued for more than £20m over the collapse of a plan to rebuild the city’s hospitals.”
BBC News, 5th November 2009
Source: www.bbc.co.uk