Lanbuk on the Law of Contract: cases
43 cases, each with its facts, the issue, what was held and the principle.
Posted By lanbuk.com
- Donoghue v Stevenson (1932)Contract and tort can overlap. The basis of liability differs even when the facts are the same.Read the full judgment
- Gibson v Manchester City Council (1979)Words that reserve a decision are not an offer, even if most of the terms look agreed.
- Warlow v Harrison (1859)An auction without reserve is a collateral contract with the highest bona fide bidder.
- Barry v Heathcote Ball (2000)An auctioneer who sells without reserve promises to sell to the highest bidder.
- Pharmaceutical Society of Great Britain v Boots (1953)Goods on a shelf are not an offer.
- Fisher v Bell (1961)A priced item in a window invites offers. It does not make one.
- Harris v Nickerson (1873)An advertisement of an auction is not an offer that the goods will be sold.
- Partridge v Crittenden (1968)A newspaper advertisement of goods is normally an invitation to treat.
- Carlill v Carbolic Smoke Ball Co (1893)A unilateral offer can be made to the world and accepted by doing what it asks.Read the full judgment
- Spencer v Harding (1870)A request for tenders invites offers. It is not itself an offer.
- Blackpool and Fylde Aero Club v Blackpool BC (1990)An invitation to tender can contain a binding promise about how tenders will be treated.
- Hyde v Wrench (1840)A counter-offer rejects the offer it responds to.
- Stevenson, Jacques & Co v McLean (1880)An enquiry about the terms is not a counter-offer.
- Peter Lind & Co v Mersey Docks and Harbour Board (1972)Acceptance must make it clear which alternative is accepted.
- Taylor v Allon (1966)Conduct is acceptance only when it is referable to the offer.
- Entores v Miles Far East Corporation (1955)Instantaneous communications are effective on receipt, not on sending.
- Household Fire Insurance Co v Grant (1879)Where post is a permitted method, acceptance is effective when the letter is posted.
- Foakes v Beer (1884)Part payment of a debt is not good consideration for a promise to forgo the rest.
- Stilk v Myrick (1809)Performance of an existing contractual duty owed to the promisor is not fresh consideration.
- Central London Property Trust v High Trees House (1947)Promissory estoppel can suspend a contractual right where there has been reliance.Read the full judgment
- Pao On v Lau Yiu Long (1980)Requested past consideration can support a later promise. Commercial pressure is not duress unless it vitiates consent.
- Balfour v Balfour (1919)A family promise, made while the household is intact, is not a contract unless the contrary is shown.
- Jones v Padavatton (1969)The domestic presumption is not limited to husband and wife.
- Jones v Vernon's Pools (1938)Clear words can keep even a business form outside the law of contract.
- Nash v Inman (1908)Necessaries are goods suitable to the minor's station and to their actual needs at the time.
- Roberts v Gray (1913)A beneficial contract of service or training binds a minor.
- Steinberg v Scala (1923)Repudiation of a voidable contract frees the minor for the future. It does not automatically return money paid.
- Lloyds Bank v Bundy (1975)A bank that takes a guarantee in circumstances of trust can lose it if the guarantor had no independent advice.
- Allcard v Skinner (1887)Presumed undue influence makes a gift voidable, but delay after the influence ends can bar relief.
- Raffles v Wichelhaus (1864)Where the parties are at cross purposes about what is being sold, and neither meaning is preferable, there is no contract.
- Bell v Lever Brothers (1932)A common mistake voids a contract only if it is fundamental.
- Scott v Coulson (1903)A contract is void where both parties are mistaken about the existence of the subject matter.
- Redgrave v Hurd (1881)A representee need not check a statement they were given, unless they in fact relied on their own enquiries.
- Bannerman v White (1861)A statement made to meet a stated condition of contracting is a term of the contract.
- Schawel v Reade (1913)A statement that stops the other party making their own check is readily held to be a warranty.
- Bigos v Boustead (1951)Money or property handed over under an illegal contract is not recoverable unless a real exception applies. Convenience is not repentance.
- Beckley v Evans (1963)A contract made to evade a statute passed for the public protection is illegal, and it taints the claim it was meant to replace.
- Habib v Attorney-General (1957)The court will not lend its aid to a party who has carried out a contract forbidden by statute.
- Napier v National Business Agency (1951)Where the illegal stipulation is not severable, the whole contract falls.
- Pearce v Brooks (1866)A contract knowingly made to further sexual immorality is illegal.
- Parkinson v College of Ambulance (1925)A contract to procure a public honour is illegal, and a party who knew that cannot undo it.
- Bowmakers v Barnet Instruments (1945)A claim that does not depend on the illegal contract can succeed.
- Gardner v Coutts & Co (1967)A term is implied where it is obvious and necessary to give the promise the business effect both sides must have meant.