When deciding whether an enforceable contract has come into existence, the first question to be answered is whether the parties intended to be bound. The Supreme Court made that point in upholding an estate agent’s entitlement to commission on a £2.1 million property sale. The
Brexit is having all sorts of unforeseen impacts, but one thing it will not do is enable the European Medicines Agency (EMA) to tear up its 25-year lease on its former London HQ. In a unique decision, the High Court rejected the EMA’s plea that
Charitable gifts revert to the donor, or his or her heirs, if they cease to be used for the purpose specified by the donor. The Court of Appeal applied that principle in a case concerning a wealthy financier’s early 20th century gifts of land for
One good reason why it makes sense to use the services of properly regulated professionals is that, in the event of insolvency, the law kicks in to ensure that clients’ funds are returned to them. In an example of the system in operation, the High
Business dealings that are based on oral contracts are built on sand. The point was resoundingly proved by a High Court case in which a high-value deal was alleged to have been struck during a chat in a restaurant, and subsequently recorded literally on the
Those who claim the benefit of contracts must first prove their existence. In a novel case, a gangland informant failed to convince the High Court that the police had reneged on a binding agreement to grant him extensive financial and other support in return for
The Government has published guidance explaining the powers available to Employment Tribunals (ETs) – their use and their application – based on feedback from users of the service which suggested there was a lack of awareness on this issue. Using case law examples to illustrate
Hope springs eternal and directors of ailing companies understandably often cling to forlorn prospects of better times ahead. However, in placing a company that ran a Formula One racing team into administration, the High Court found that the bullet finally had to be bitten. An
Agents who arrange to receive secret commissions on client introductions only have themselves to blame if judges refuse to enforce payment. However, the Court of Appeal has ruled in a ground-breaking case that a broker was not obliged to inform its clients of the precise
Decisions as to whether a product infringes registered design rights frequently come down to matters of general impression. That was certainly so in a Court of Appeal case concerning heart rate monitoring devices used by fitness enthusiasts. The proprietor of two registered community designs (RCDs)
