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24 March 2023
Issue: 8018 / Categories: Legal News , Commercial , Property
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NLJ this week: Unjust enrichment & the problem with oral agreements

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The Supreme Court decision in Barton v Morris is a landmark case on the interaction between the law of unjust enrichment and the law of contract. 

In this week’s NLJ, Sarah Allan, partner, and Chris Ward, knowledge lawyer, at Pennington Manches Cooper, write that the story behind the case ‘is a paradigm of how things ought not to be done’.

The dispute centred on an oral agreement for one party to act as broker in a commercial property sale. Allan and Ward write: ‘There being no written contract, Judge Pearce had to rely on witness evidence to determine what the parties had agreed some five years prior to the High Court hearing in June 2018.’

The authors look at the case and its implications in detail here.

MOVERS & SHAKERS

Withers—Sophie Barrett-Brown

Withers—Sophie Barrett-Brown

Withers drives further growth in its UK immigration team with new partner Sophie Barrett-Brown

Venus Legal—Esther Amoako

Venus Legal—Esther Amoako

Venus Legal invests in next generation of legal talent as specialist litigation practice grows

Fisher Phillips—Catrina Smith

Fisher Phillips—Catrina Smith

Fisher Phillips continues momentum in London with arrival of Catrina Smith

NEWS
Restrictions on workplace non-disclosure agreements could make settlements slower, more complex and more expensive when reforms expected in 2027 take effect
Private prosecutors face closer scrutiny under Crown Prosecution Service guidance designed to strengthen accountability and consistency when intervention is requested
Foreign states cannot necessarily claim immunity for cyber operations launched abroad against computers in Britain, following a divided Supreme Court ruling
Defendants who make unsupported complaints about their lawyers risk losing legal aid while confiscation proceedings continue without representation
Lawyers advising Russian clients face different sanctions restrictions across the UK, EU and US, despite their shared objective of increasing pressure on Russia
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