Contract

When considering an obligation to use all reasonable endeavours to obtain something from a third party, it was established that sacrifice of one’s own commercial interests was not required. It might not be clear what considerations were within that concept but clearly one should not have to pay an extortionate price to obtain what was required from a third party.

The meaning of the expression “reasonable endeavours” and “best endeavours” remained a question of construction not of extrapolation from other cases. The expression would not always mean the same thing. Sometimes considerations such as a party’s own inclinations and subjectively measured interests would be part of the exercise. Sometimes, the approach was objective.