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12 June 2008
Issue: 7325 / Categories: Features , Civil way , Procedure & practice
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Civil way: 13 June 2008

Sole agents: To charge for eternity? No bank account reconciliations secret funds

UNDESIRABLE JUDGMENT, GOOD FOR DEMOLITION
Things were going badly enough for estate agents without Foxtons Ltd v Bicknell and another [2008] EWCA Civ 419, [2008] All ER (D) 328 (Apr). That case will make their search for an effective linkage between their actions and an ultimate sale that much harder and, at the same time, will reduce the risk to the seller of being saddled with two sets of agents’ commission for the price of one property.

“A purchaser introduced by us…”
Sole agency terms (adopting the wording of the Estate Agents: Provision of Information Regulations 1991 (SI 1991/859), (the regulations) entitled Foxtons to commission where contracts were exchanged with “a purchaser introduced by us…” Foxtons said that meant a person who at some time in the future became a purchaser.

But hang on, say a client placed their property with sole agents, withdrew it and subsequently put it back on the market with other agents two years later and those agents

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MOVERS & SHAKERS

Gateley Legal—Jack Kelly

Gateley Legal—Jack Kelly

Gateley Legal expands Midlands residential development team

Gibson Dunn—Richard Surtees

Gibson Dunn—Richard Surtees

Gibson Dunn adds employee benefits and executive compensation practice in London with partner Richard Surtees

Laytons ETL—Alec Cameron

Laytons ETL—Alec Cameron

Laytons ETL appoints new partner and head of intellectual property disputes

NEWS
A series of recent decisions has clarified important principles across property law, from perpetuities to lease renewals and public rights over land
Employers cannot rely on wellbeing services alone to defend workplace stress claims after a High Court decision awarding almost £1m to an overworked employee
Andy Burnham's brand of 'Manchesterism' could offer fresh thinking on legal aid and access to justice if it reaches Westminster, according to Roger Smith, NLJ columnist and former director of JUSTICE
The constitutional fallout from a change of prime minister, rather than the politics, is under scrutiny as questions arise over the limits of executive authority in a leadership transition
The legal profession is undergoing a fundamental shift from selling services to creating technology-enabled products, according to Professor Luke Mason, Head of School of Law at Regent's University London
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