Month: September 2019

Can you rely on heads of terms?

If you don’t have a signed contract, you are creating trouble for yourself. To prove your rights and remedies, you will need to overcome various evidential hurdles to prove the 5 requirements for a contract. What happens when your carefully crafted contract is lost from a computer late at night,

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The Dotted Line: Paradigm or Paranoia?

The store of bad contracts never seems to run dry. This week, my twin sister sent me one from a removals firm, based on a 2014 standard issued by the British Association of Removers. Here’s what you can learn from it.  Read the full edition here Just because your clients

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What is quantum meruit?

A claim for a reasonable sum (literally ‘the amount he deserves‘) is available either under an incomplete contract or on the principle of restitution or unjust enrichment in equity. Claims in contract Where there is a contract, quantum meruit applies where: no sum is agreed for the scope set out

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What is unjust about unjust enrichment?

Once your chat in a posh drinks reception is not upheld as a contract, you might want the court to consider if you are entitled to some money on the basis of ‘unjust enrichment’. A claim for unjust enrichment is not a claim in contract law, but in a much

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A photograph of a couple at a New Year's Eve fancy dress party. The woman is the queen of hearts, wearing a red lond kaftan and crown with red hearts on it. The man wears a tricorn, monocle, hook, a white flouncy shirt, black and white waistcoat, and red nerkerchief. Photo by Sarah Fox (and the people are her parents).
Sarah Fox

The Dotted Line: Time to reflect

After the summer, I often find myself in reflective mood. Social media is full of pictures of kids starting a new term (mine studiously avoid having their photos taken and would sue me if I shared without their permission!). This newsletter is promoted by reflections on my late mum and

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Contracts create disputes

The Global Construction Disputes Report 2019 (by Arcadis) confirms that failure to understand or comply with the contract is the number one cause of disputes globally. Professor Renato Nazzini, in his guest foreword says: It would be tempting to look for solutions in ever more complex, more detailed contractual documents

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