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

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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

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Carey Olsen—Patrick Ormond

Carey Olsen—Patrick Ormond

Partner joinscorporate and finance practice in British Virgin Islands

Dawson Cornwell—Naomi Angell

Dawson Cornwell—Naomi Angell

Firm strengthens children department with adoption and surrogacy expert

Penningtons Manches Cooper—Graham Green

Penningtons Manches Cooper—Graham Green

Media and technology expert joins employment team as partner in Cambridge

NEWS
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NLJ this week: Divorce ‘nuclear weapon’ freezes assets but entangles outsiders
Freezing orders in divorce proceedings can unexpectedly ensnare third parties and disrupt businesses. In NLJ this week, Lucy James of Trowers & Hamlins explains how these orders—dubbed a ‘nuclear weapon’—preserve assets but can extend far beyond spouses to companies and business partners 
NLJ this week: What counts as ‘rent’? Court says labour alone won’t do
A Court of Appeal ruling has clarified that ‘rent’ must be monetary—excluding tenants paid in labour from statutory protection. In this week's NLJ, James Naylor explains Garraway v Phillips, where a tenant worked two days a week instead of paying rent
Your magistrates’ court needs you!
Thousands more magistrates are to be recruited, under a major shake-up to speed up and expand the hiring process
NLJ this week: Freed but failed—justice system leaves the innocent empty-handed
Three men wrongly imprisoned for a combined 77 years have been released—yet received ‘not a penny’ in compensation, exposing deep flaws in the justice system. Writing in NLJ this week, Dr Jon Robins reports on Justin Plummer, Oliver Campbell and Peter Sullivan, whose convictions collapsed amid discredited forensics, ‘oppressive’ police interviews and unreliable ‘cell confessions’
NLJ this week: Clarity on whistleblowing, settlements and tribunal limits
A quiet month for employment cases still delivers key legal clarifications. In his latest Employment Law Brief for NLJ, Ian Smith reports that whistleblowing protection remains intact even where disclosures are partly self-serving, provided the worker reasonably believes they serve the ‘public interest’ 
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