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19 June 2008 / Stephen Gold
Issue: 7326 / Categories: Features , Civil way
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Civil way: 20 June 2008

Wishy-washy contracts the cohabitation splits the unilateral notice to quit new domestic violence PD

BEWARE THE KILLER

Uncertainty of terms. It is a killer. It killed in Lee-Parker v Izzet (No 2) [1972] 2 All ER 800. In that case, there was an agreement for the sale of a house “subject to the purchaser obtaining a satisfactory mortgage”. Mr Justice Goulding held that this was a condition precedent to the existence of a binding contract and that it was void for uncertainty. “Everything is at large, not only matters like the rate of interest and the ancillary obligations on which evidence might establish what would be usual or reasonable, but also those two most essential points—the amount of the loan and the terms of repayment.”

And in Schweppe v Harper [2008] All ER (D) 311 (May) the parties made an oral agreement that if the claimant obtained third party finance which led to the defendant obtaining an annulment of his bankruptcy then the defendant would pay the claimant £50,000. But the terms

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MOVERS & SHAKERS

Anthony Collins—William Hallett & Lorna Scully

Anthony Collins—William Hallett & Lorna Scully

Anthony Collins hires two talented legal directors

Switalskis—five appointments

Switalskis—five appointments

Firm expands national abuse compensation team

Mathys & Squire—nine promotions

Mathys & Squire—nine promotions

IP firm announces new partners and senior promotions across UK offices

NEWS
Executors may be overlooking billions of pounds in estate assets hidden in forgotten investments and misplaced share certificates
Britain’s booming non-surgical cosmetics market is operating in what some critics describe as a regulatory ‘Wild West’
Family contact disputes are becoming an increasingly prominent feature of Court of Protection litigation
Material obtained through US discovery applications may have a much longer legal life than many litigants realise
English courts are developing a distinctly practical approach to sanctions disputes arising from Russia’s invasion of Ukraine
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