Nicholas Broomfield considers the decision in Mears v Costplan ‘A “material” defect is not necessarily a breach capable of preventing practical completion or permitting termination of the contract; such a conclusion risks giving rise to “commercial absurdity”.’ Mears Ltd v Costplan Services (South East) Ltd [2018] concerned the development of student accommodation in Plymouth. Mears …
Continue reading "Practical completion: A question of construction"
This post is only available to members.
Martin McKeague and Will Cousins analyse recent key cases on the interpretation of overage agreements ‘Mr Biden’s argument was that the overage provision gave him complete discretion as to whether and when to sell the properties and, therefore, whether and when to pay the overage.’ In recent years and months, contractual interpretation, and in particular …
Continue reading "Development: Overage and contractual interpretation"
This post is only available to members.
Amanda Noyce outlines the lessons from a case concerning how a disputed share of a settlement fund should be assigned ‘The question that the Public Trustee sought to have determined was whether, according to the terms of the settlement, David‘s share accrued to the share that was held for his brother, Jeffery, and so was …
Continue reading "Wills: Generation gain"
This post is only available to members.
Sapna Garg examines a recent case on contractual interpretation ‘What can we take from this case? It is a trite point, but surely there is no clearer illustration of how failing to draft a contract clearly and unambiguously can land the parties in a lengthy and costly dispute.‘ At the start of a new business …
Continue reading "Construction: Dubious drafting"
This post is only available to members.
Emilia Piskorz considers the weight given to subject matter certainty in a Court of Appeal case ‘Even though the trust deed did not refer to the property, given the correspondence, the reasonable man would conclude that Madam Lim believed that the property was held on the trusts of the deed she executed.‘ In a judgment …
Continue reading "Trust deeds: Filling in the blanks"
This post is only available to members.
James Farrell and Sophie Jones explore the lessons to be learned from a recent case on liability caps ‘Although the court will consider commercial common sense and the surrounding circumstances, its focus is first and foremost on the language used. The language used is something that contracting parties have control over, and they should exercise …
Continue reading "Drafting: If the cap fits"
This post is only available to members.
Wills & Trusts Law Reports | Winter 2018 #170The claimant was the second wife and widow of the Earl Bathurst (Eighth Earl). The first to third defendants were the trustees of the Earl’s Fund (EFT) created under a statutory Codicil made on behalf of the Eighth Earl by the Court of Protection. The fourth to seventh defendants were the trustees of the Earl Bathurst 1963 estate settlement (settlement). When the Earl succeeded to his title in 1943, his inheritance included a large estate comprising 15,000 acres and a mansion house known as Cirencester Park. There were also chattels that included valuable works of art and collections of ...
Wills & Trusts Law Reports | Winter 2018 #170Morgan J had held that the late Lim Lie Hoa (Madam Lim) had until her death in 2009 held the house, its proceeds of sale and other rights relating to it upon the trusts of a settlement dated 14 December 1985 signed by her and by the appellant Ong Siauw Ping (Ping), her son.
Ping had opposed the claim that the house was held upon the declared or any trust. The only issues raised by the appeal were: (i) whether Madam Lim made a declaration of trust in respect of the house; and, if she did, (ii) whether it was ‘manifested and proved’ by the writing requirements of s53(1)(b) ...
Gwendoline Davies looks at the courts’ changing approach to interpretation of exclusion clauses ‘The Unfair Contract Terms Act (UCTA) can determine the enforceability of clauses which seek to restrict or exclude business liability in some commercial contracts, including the majority of supply contracts.’ The interpretation of exclusion clauses in commercial contracts has continued to prompt …
Continue reading "Contract: Including exclusion"
This post is only available to members.
Clare Arthurs and Nicole Finlayson report on recent citations of Wood v Capita ‘Both these cases illustrate in practice the approach set out in Wood of employing the tools of textualism and contextualism together, seeking a balance between the literal meaning of the words and their context to arrive at the correct interpretation.’ Earlier this …
Continue reading "Insights By Penningtons Manches: Roll with it – contractual interpretation"
This post is only available to members.
