Judith Hopper highlights recent case law on contractual variation ‘A party seeking to rely on a variation will find it much easier to prove that the variation took place if it has taken the practical step of recording that variation in writing.’It is generally considered good practice to include in a contract a clause which …
Continue reading "Contract: I heard it on the grapevine"
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Craig Bennett considers a recent Court of Appeal decision on the oral variation of contracts ‘The Court of Appeal has stated that, where a contract contains a provision which prohibits oral variations and only permits variations when they are in writing, this can be overridden if the parties so wish.’Many contracts, including PFI project agreements, …
Continue reading "Contract: Word of mouth"
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Craig Bennett considers a recent Court of Appeal decision on the oral variation of contracts ‘The Court of Appeal has stated that, where a contract contains a provision which prohibits oral variations and only permits variations when they are in writing, this can be overridden if the parties so wish.’Many contracts, including PFI project agreements, …
Continue reading "Contract: Word of mouth"
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David Niven and Elisabeth Mason explore a recent judgment on aggregation ‘Unsurprisingly, claimants and insurers often disagree over the circumstances in which multiple claims should be aggregated.’ The Court of Appeal has ruled on the proper construction of the aggregation clause in the Solicitors’ Regulation Authority’s (SRA’s) ‘Minimum Terms and Conditions of Professional Indemnity Insurance’ …
Continue reading "Contract: Pride, prejudice and aggregation"
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Dov Ohrenstein investigates a recent case of implied terms ‘A term will only be implied (other than if required to be implied by statute) if it satisfies the test of business necessity or it is so obvious that it goes without saying.’ The decision of the Supreme Court in Marks & Spencer plc v BNP …
Continue reading "Contract: Buy one get one free"
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Mark Lawrence and Jonathan Pratt investigate recent Supreme Court guidance on break rights and implied terms ‘All five members of the Supreme Court were clear that… a term can only be implied into a contract where it is necessary to make that contract work. This should, therefore, be the starting point for anyone involved in …
Continue reading "Contract: Something for everyone"
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David Niven and Elisabeth Mason look at aggregation clauses and the AIG Europe case ‘AIG’s case was that the claims brought by the 214 investors against TILP arose from “similar acts or omissions in a series of related matters or transactions”… and should therefore be aggregated, with the result of limiting AIG’s liability.’ The High …
Continue reading "Contract: Bit of an aggregation?"
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Wills & Trusts Law Reports | November 2015 #154The appellant (Mr Herbert) owned the freehold of a house and a large garden. The respondents (Mr Doyle and Mr Talati) owned the freehold of an adjacent property comprising a dental surgery with nine parking spaces. They also leased part of the ground floor in the main house from Mr Herbert. They carried on a practice as dental practitioners from the freehold and leasehold premises and they and their clients used the parking spaces. Mr Herbert wished to develop the former walled garden of Mansfield House and to build mews houses, but to do so he needed Mr Doyle and Mr Talati to exchange s...
David Sawtell considers some key points of contract interpretation ‘Much of the difference between the decisions in Rainy Sky and Arnold is explained by the ambiguity of the disputed term in the former decision and the clarity of the clause under review in the latter.’ It is trite to state that the purpose of contractual …
Continue reading "Contract: Clear skies? Comparing Arnold v Britton to Rainy Sky SA v Kookmin Bank"
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Clare Arthurs and Sebastian Kokelaar examine the role of commercial common sense in the interpretation of contracts after Arnold v Britton ‘Arnold does not represent a radical departure from what was said in Rainy Sky about commercial common sense. Both decisions underline the primacy of the words used by the parties.’ In the case of …
Continue reading "Contract: No Rainy Sky over the Gower Peninsula"
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